RWBY - The Journeys Of Lan
by crack976
Summary: This is a story about a boy named Lan as he travels the world of Remnant with his grandfather, Byakko. He will make many friends, battle fearsome enemies, have many amazing and strange experiences, and discover that darkness exists everywhere. All the while he will be searching for clues about four lights that fill his dreams. Red, white, black, and yellow.
1. Chapter 1

RWBY side story, the journeys of Lan

Chapter 1 Flickering Lights

Ansel was breathing hard, his back against a large oak tree. The Grimm were after him, and he knew he wouldn't elude them forever. Ansel was an old man with a long white beard and a bald head, he was rather muscular for his age, was wearing black robes, and had his head covered with its hood. It was a cold autumn night, deep in the wilds, far from any of the 4 kingdoms; he knew no one would come to help him. If he were alone he would have fought them to his dying breath with the weapon he had taken from the armory, a hybrid crossbow that could split into twin pickaxes, but he couldn't afford to now, what he had with him was far more important than his insignificant life. The boy lay asleep tucked inside his coat dreaming peacefully, completely unaware of the approaching peril. He smiled as he gazed at the boy's face, the young lad couldn't have been more than 3 years old. He was supposed to be the key to a bright future. How did things go wrong so fast?

They should have been safe back at headquarters with the advanced Dust shield surrounding it. How did the Grimm break through after all these years? He knew the answer, knew it but refused to believe it. There had been a Grimm that was different from the others, one that looked human. It had ripped through the barrier like it was tissue paper, and led an army of Grimm to attack them. The rest of his comrades had stayed behind to make sure that at least that beast was dead. They were the best of the best, ex-hunters and ex-members of various combat factions throughout Vytal,

"They will for sure be able to kill it" he thought, but the sheer number of Grimm that had poured into their headquarters had simply been too much. Their deaths were inevitable, but they would not be in vain. He would get the boy to safety and alert the rest of mankind to this new threat.

His breathing had leveled now, and he felt able to run again. He once again took off through the dense undergrowth, sped along with the weight of his mission.

Suddenly an ear-splitting howl split the night; they still sounded like they were a little ways off, but the Grimm would soon close in on him. He had to hurry to the docks; hopefully its force field would still be operational, if so they would be safe long enough for him to prepare a small boat for the both of them. The noises behind were getting louder and more varied, he heard the howls of Beowolves, Cries of Nevermores, and the roars of giant Baskervilles. He doubled his pace, praying he would make it to the docks before they were upon him.

He dashed in to a clearing and stopped in his tracks. Standing before him was the king of the forest; a giant boarbatusk the size of a small house nicknamed "The Major", unlike normal boarbatusks the Major had protection on its stomach as well, making it practically a moving fortress. It had its eyes on him, its mouth salivating in anticipation of fresh meat. Ansel cursed his fortune; he couldn't hope to defeat a beast that had ended the lives of many veteran hunters. But he had one option left; he had taken a small supply of dust bolts with him he had fled headquarters, which were linked with a detonator he carried.

"They wouldn't be able to harm the Major" he thought, "but they may be able to disorient it for a few minutes."

Just as this thought passed through his mind, Major charged at him full speed, determined to enjoy its meal as soon it could. Ansel dove to the side, making sure to cover the child with his arm, and quickly loaded the bolts into his crossbow. The force of the Major's charge made it very difficult for it to change its direction, but the beast quickly planted its feet and turned around to face his prey. But this split second gave Ansel the time he needed to quickly fire off all the bolts that he currently had loaded in the crossbow. The bolts were aimed at many of the gaps in the Major's armor and upon striking the hide, stuck to it. This seemed to confuse the major for a moment as it inspected the new protrusions sticking out of its body. Using this time, Ansel quickly stuck the boy into a more stable position in his robes. He had to get out of here quickly, the rest of the Grimm were getting close, and if they caught up all would be lost.

With a thundering squeal the Major charged at him once again. This time Ansel was prepared. He leapt into the air then, using the trees as springboard, leapt onto the major's back.

"I hear your hide is pretty tough" Ansel said, disconnecting his crossbow into the pickaxe form, "But smashing stuff like that is what these babies were made for", with that Ansel began striking the hard shell with the pickaxes, each blow infused with aura.

The Major squealed as bits of its armor were chipped off, shaking and thrashing, trying to get Ansel off. The vibrations were so intense Ansel couldn't find the time to use his pickaxes any more, but he had done his job. There were now many small notches in the Major's armor, just large enough to fit a bolt. Using the momentum from the Major's thrashing, Ansel leapt from up onto a nearby tree branch, then fired off the rest of his bolts, each sticking in place to the holes he had made. The Major turned to look up at him and growled, preparing to smash through the tree trunk and bring Ansel to the ground.

"To late piggy" Ansel said, triggering the detonator. Every bolt stuck on the Major exploded, filling the forest with multi-colored light. The Major squealed in pain and surprise as it's armor splintered, then it collapsed to the ground, apparently dazed.

After quickly checking to make sure the Major truly was incapacitated, Ansel leapt from the tree and took off in the direction of the dock.

"I'm getting too old for this" he thought while sighing, but feeling the boy's slow breathing, he doubled his pace determined to make it before the Grimm got to them.

He hadn't gone 100 meters when an ear-piercing squeal pierce the night, whipping has head back Ansel saw the major spinning towards him, its spines screaming bloody murder. Ansel leapt sideways, but not soon enough, the attack brushed his shoulder and sent him flying back towards a tree. Clutching the boy in his arms, Ansel took the full brunt of the collision with his back, there was a cracking noise and he screamed out in pain. He collapsed to the ground breathing hard; he had used up most of his aura cracking the Major's armors, and after that blow had almost none left. He tried to get up, desperately trying to catch his breath. Then the Major was upon him, quickly seizing Ansel's arm in its jaws, crushing bone and rending flesh. Ansel screamed in pain, frustration, and despair. He had failed and now both he and the boy would die. The world was slowly growing darker, his life's blood flowing out from the wound and his eyes losing focus. Suddenly, things started getting brighter,

"I must be approaching the afterlife" Ansel thought with despair, shame clawing at his mind at the knowledge of his failed mission.

He opened his eyes a small crack expecting to see the great beyond, but to his surprise, the light was coming from inside his robe. The sudden light had surprised the Major and made it back off a few steps, it now eyed Ansel with a cautious eye, as if making sure nothing strange would happen.

"The boy" Ansel whispered, "This must be his doing".

Ansel quickly opened his coat, wanting to see what was going on with the boy. The child was still fast asleep, but was emitting a strange blue glow. The Major grunted, now believing there was not present danger, and charged straight at the two, its tusks ready to impale the two onto the tree. Suddenly the light surrounding the boy intensified, and then burst forth in a brilliant flash. Ansel covered his eyes, temporary blinded. He heard a slamming sound and a squeal, and afterwards a constant scuffling noise. He slowly removed his hands from his face, and was stunned by what he saw. Standing before him was the simulacrum of a man, formed of pulsating blue energy. It had stopped the Major's fierce charge, which was capable of plowing down even the strongest of hunters, with one hand which was fastened firmly around one of the creatures tusks. The Major was squealing and struggling, trying in vain to pull its tusk free. The strange being turned its head and looked at Ansel, then nodded its head as if in thanks.

Turning back to the Major the being seized its head with his other hand, then with a squelching splattering sound, ripped the Major's tusk out of its head. Then, with a deft motion too fast for the untrained eye, plunged the tip of the tusk into the Major's right eye. The Major reeled back, squealing in pain, trying to get away from this new foe. The being stepped forward, the blue energy swirling in the palm of his hand. Seeing this with its one good eye the Major turned to run, but it was too late. The being thrust out his palm and struck the Major in the side, the resulting explosion blasted the Major through the forest, smashing through tree after tree like they were nothing but weeds. Squealing, the Major flew off, far in the opposite direction, vanishing from sight, a few moments later there was a low boom, and a cloud of dust rose above the forest, miles away from their current position.

The being turned back to Ansel, then kneeled down, looking at the boy in Ansel's arms. It then reached out its hand and touched Ansel's wound, there was a flash of light, and Ansel cried out at the searing pain that soon followed. After the stinging had faded he looked down and was amazed to see his arm in perfect condition. The being nodded at him, then reached out its hand and touched the boy on the forehead then, like a mist being funneled into a vacuum, was sucked into the boy from the point of contact. The boy shifted uncomfortably in Ansel's arms, and then let out a long deep belch, smiled, and shifted into a more comfortable position.

Ansel was stunned,

"This boy is more important than we could have dreamed" he thought, hope swelling in his breast "I must get him to safety, somewhere he can reach his full potential".

The hunter academies, those would be perfect. The boy would meet many good people, and hone his skills with the best of the best. With his goal firmly in mind, Ansel picked up the boy and began running in the direction of the docks once again.

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.

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After running for what seemed an impossibly long period of time, Ansel finally broke through the tree line. There before him were the docks, he breathed a sigh of relief and ran up to them. The dock consisted of a small two story wooden boathouse with no walls; there was a small storage of supplies on the first level in case of emergencies, as well as the boats which could be pushed down a ramp into the water, parallel to the pier. But first he had to activate the dust force field generator located on the second floor. He dashed up the stairs, and then found the generator, wrapped tightly under a water-proof cloth; it was a small cylindrical device with an opening on the left side to insert the dust crystals to power, and a simple on and off switch on the other side. He checked its systems and found them to be in perfect working order; he then picked up a crate of dust crystals lying next to the generator, and dumped most of them into the generator's energy chamber. He then pulled down on the ignition switch, and the generator hummed to life. A small antenna extended out from the top, and fired a beam of light straight through the roof. After reaching a certain height, the energy began to spread out and curve downward, covering the dock in its protective embrace.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Ansel walked down the stairs, finally able to relax. He took the boy out of his robes, and then wrapped him a blanket he found in the supply cache, he then placed the boy in of their best boats, an advanced model with autopilot functions, a small dust force field generator, and a special sonic disruptor to keep aquatic Grimm away. He made sure all the functions of the boat were in perfect order, than began to pile supplies into it.

Suddenly, an ear-splitting screech filled the air, coming from the direction of the forest. Ansel whipped around and saw that the Grimm had caught up, a menagerie of different monstrosities leered out at him from the forest. Ansel wasn't worried though; he had charged the force field generator with enough dust to last the whole night if need be, and he only needed a few more minutes to get ready to leave. But to his surprise the beasts did not charge forward, instead they parted forming a narrow path between the two groups. The next scene froze Ansel's blood in his veins. The humanoid Grimm emerged from the groups and stood before him, its body splattered with the blood of Ansel's comrades. When it had first attacked he hadn't gotten a good look at it, but now he saw it in its full glory. It was about the average height of a man, its body was completely black with pieces of armor jutting out all over its body at strange angles, and it had sharpened claws at the end of each of its digits. It seemed to have a spiky head of hair, but on closer inspection were small spikes adorning its cranium. But the most daunting sight was the 6 crystals protruding from its back, each pulsing with red and black light, with tendrils of shadow wrapping each of them in a twisted embrace. The same light from the crystals were also emanating from the creature's eyes and mouth, lighting up the path toward the dock.

There was no time to supply anymore, Ansel leapt into the boat and quickly started it, entering the coordinates for the nearest human kingdom into the autopilot system and prepping its force field. He then got out and pushed the boat into the water. There was a sudden crashing sound, the humanoid Grimm was standing in from of the force field; the crystals on its back were pulsating and sending reddish-black tinges of energy all over the creature's body. It claws raked against the field, its energy reacting with the dust field. Cracks were beginning to form; it wouldn't be long before the creature got through. Ansel knew what he had to do; he had to keep that thing here for as long as he could, so that the boat could carry the boy to safety. The boat hummed to life in the water and began to move forward, following the preprogrammed course. Ansel reached inside his robes and pulled out his remaining dust crystals, fitting them all into dust-powered explosives he had taken from the supply cash. There was a smashing sound as the best broke through the barrier and an explosion rocked the boathouse as the force field generator exploded. Ansel pulled out his pickaxes and charged at the Grimm, channeling the last bits of his aura into the tips. It was over in an instant. With a lighting fast movement the Grimm dove forward and drove its hand right through Ansel's stomach. Ansel cried out in pain, blood bursting from his mouth. But then he smiled, grabbing the Grimm's arm with one hand, he then opened his coat with the other, revealing all the dust bombs he had prepared.

"Got you now you bastard" he said with a smile, and triggered the detonator in his coat.

The explosion blew the boathouse to pieces and sent the Grimm flying outside, crashing into a group of Beowolves, tearing them to pieces in the process. In a few moments it was up again, seemingly unfazed by the blast. It walked slowly back to the smoking remains of the boathouse, searching for its quarry. Lying in the middle of the wreckage, his skin charred black by the blast was Ansel.

"Too late monster" he said with a smile, "he's gone now".

Looking towards the sea, they could both see the boat speeding away from the shore, faster than any of the Nevermores could fly. Ansel grinned, staring his executor in the face. He had completed his final mission and had no more regrets. The Grimm stared down at him; then smiled. A chill ran down Ansel's spine, the Grimm weren't supposed to have souls they couldn't respond like this to human words. Suddenly the crystals on the creatures back began pulsating, releasing tendrils of crackling energy that covered the creature's body. The Grimm opened its mouth and the energy began flowing towards the open orifice, fusing together into a quivering black ball of darkness.

"Wait" Ansel spluttered "Sto-".

It was too late. The ball burst forth from the creature's mouth towards the boat, speeding across the water like a shooting star. It collided with the force field, energy crackling against energy, the field trying in vain to hold it back, and then the sphere detonated. The area where the boat had been was engulfed in the dark blast, the sea parting from the force of the explosion. In less than a minute it was over, and the sea was empty, no sign that the boat was ever there remained.

"No", Ansel choked, he had failed the boy was dead, and this creature free to walk the world unchecked.

All he could hope for now was a quick end to his suffering. The creature looked down at him, the grin still visible on its face.

"Well hurry it up", Ansel spat, "I don't have all night".

The creature lifted up his hand, but instead of bringing it down and ending Ansel's life, it grabbed one of the crystals on its back and with a shattering noise tore it out. Then raised it above its head like a ritual dagger and drove the crystal into Ansel's chest. Ansel cried out in pain as the gem pierced his heart, "At least it will be over soon" he sadly thought. But something was wrong; there was a sudden burning sensation where the crystal had pierced him. He glanced down and saw black tendrils spreading out from where he had been pierced. It spread quickly over his body, first covering his arms and legs. Ansel begin flailing with the little strength he had left, but his muscles wouldn't respond to him, his limbs were moving, but not by his will, they did not respond to him. Ansel screamed as the umbral strands began creeping up his neck, eventually covering his head. In a few minutes the pain was gone, and Ansel looked out across the sea with eyes that were no longer his. The thing that was now in control of his body stood up then stared into the water, and through its eyes Ansel saw what he had become. A monster, another humanoid Grimm. He screamed in frustration, but it was a sound that only he heard in the depths of his mind. His body now belonged to the Grimm, his soul bound inside it like a prisoner. Despair coursed through Ansel's soul, he would now have to watch as the creature that controlled his body ended the lives of countless innocents. The two Grimms raised their heads and roared, elated with their success and the addition of a new comrade. But out of the corner of the creature's eye, Ansel saw something, a sight that the new owner of his body paid no attention to in its moment of triumph. A faint blue glow, far out at sea that was slowly being carried farther and farther away by the waves.

**Please give me all your constructive criticism, I wish to improve my abilities as an author! ****I would also appreciate it if you could Like and follow my story, more likes and follows tend to attract more readers, and more readers mean more reviews.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A new beginning in a town of ends

It was a perfect day, the sky was clear and the ocean breeze was refreshing. Byakko Muteki walked down the beach with the ocean at his left and a forest at his right, enjoying the nice day after a successful hunt, having a deer; a boar; and a man-sized tuna slung over his back. Byakko was a tall, very muscular, wild looking old man with spiky white hair with black streaks in it and chin curtain beard. He was wearing casual martial arts clothing with the sleeves ripped off, and baggy black pants. His body was covered in many scars from the many battles he had fought in the past, the most noticeable being one that ran from his right eye to his chin. His most striking features however were a pair of white and black tiger ears and a long tail trailing out from a whole in his pants, marking him as a white tiger Faunus. He was daydreaming now, drooling as he thought of the food the people back at the village could make with the animals he was bringing.

He stopped suddenly, craning his ears. He heard shallow breathing nearby; he didn't sense any bloodlust so it couldn't be a Grimm. Gazing around the beach he spotted a young boy wrapped in a brown cloth. He walked over to the child and picked him up with one hand.

"Hey kid" he barked out "you still alive?"

The child stirred, slowly opening his eyes and stared at the man in front of him. Examining the boy Byakko noted that he had messy black hair with azure highlights around the edge, and gray eyes.

"Well kid you gonna say anything", he barked out.

Both silently stared at each other, a serious look on both their faces. "Frrrrrrppp", both the young boy and the old man let loose a simultaneous flatulation, the young boys face instantly relaxing. A moment of silence passed, and then Byakko burst into a fit of laughter, his body shuddering with the force of it.

"Bahahahahaha, kid that was perfect harmony right there" he said with a big grin on his face, "It must have been fate that we met here today, how else could we have achieved such perfect synchronization" he said with a mock serious voice "I've decided, be you abandoned by your parents or left alive while they were killed, I will raise you as my grandson. What do you say?"

The boy looked up at the Byakko's exuberant face, giggling slightly.

"Okay mister, but… do you mind telling me who I am?" said the boy in a calm voice.

"Oh, amnesia huh?" Byakko said with a chuckle, "I have no idea who you are, except that you're my grandson now, but I guess you'll need a new name now. I'll call you…" Byakko paused, thinking, opening his mouth then closing it again

"you know what I'll wait till I take you back to the village; I'm sure someone there can pop out a good name." With that Byakko slung the boy over his other shoulder and marched away toward the village. All the while talking about what was there and what would be the boy's new life.

.

.

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"You're going to love it there" Byakko said for the twentieth time "we've got great food, lots of stuff to do, and plenty of places for us to train".

Byakko, obviously a combat specialist, wanted to train the boy to be a warrior just like him, and had already planned a grueling training regime.

"What am I going to train to fight mister?" the boy said curiously. "Why the Grimm of course", Byakko boomed "along with any other scum we meet, and stop calling me mister. From now on you're supposed to call me grandpa."

"Okay grandpa" the boy said giggling "When are we going to get to the town?"

They had been walking (Lan still slung over Byakko's back) for around 15 minutes along the beach and had not yet reached the town.

"It's just over that hill over there" Byakko, said pointing at a sharp incline around a mile away, "just a little bit longer". As they neared the hill, they began to hear the signs of crashing and roaring, along with the crackle of energy.

"Grimm" Byakko said his smile widening "and a whole bunch of them too. You're in for a treat little buddy", he said cracking his knuckles "time for your grandpa to show his stuff."

With that Byakko, bent his knees and dashed towards the hill. In a split second they were atop the hill, coming to a halt with a loud slamming noise. Before them was a settlement surrounded by a large dust-field, and at one side were a large group of Grimm, attacking the field and trying to break in. They consisted of 10 beowolves, 6 ursa, 8 boarbatusks, 3 king taijitu, and a large deathstalker. Upon seeing them Byakko's smile fell,

"That's it?" he said with a huff "This won't even be a warm up." Sighing, he dropped the animals he had hunted and the boy onto the ground. "Sorry kid, it's not going to be much of a show."

Suddenly a squeaking sound split the air from an intercom and an old man's voice, with an Irish accent, came on.

"Byakko you lazy old cat, get rid of those Grimm already".

"Alright, alright" Byakko yelled back, shaking his fist "Geez, be a little patient will ya?"

Bringing his fingers to his lips Byakko whistled. The sound was has as louder and as high pitched as the intercom, forcing the boy to cover his ears. The Grimm near the barrier paused then turned to look at him.

"Come on" Byakko said, beckoning them with his hand "get over here already so I can kick your asses". The creature roared and charged at their new quarry, the beowolves taking the lead, while Byakko calmly stood there, cleaning his ears and looking slightly bored. The first beowolf quickly got within striking distance and leapt at Byakko, its claws pointed at his throat. With movement faster than lightning, Byakko launched his fist and stuck the Beowolf square in the stomach. The force of the impact pulverized the beast's abdomen, leaving a gaping hole in its wake, but it didn't stop there. The force of the punch shot forward, the area of the blow widening, and crashed into the group of Grimm, the area where the punch sped through was completely obliterated. The Grimm at the center of the formation disappeared as the punch blasted through the formation and flew into the forest. Those that remained after taking the blow were missing limbs and other parts of their body; in fact all that was left of many of them _were_ just a few limbs. Far off in the forest an explosion erupted where the force of the punch finally stopped its advance, sending up a dust cloud a few miles high. All the boarbatsuks were now dead, the 3 remaining Ursa were fine, and each of the 2 remaining beowolves had a limb missing, the remaining king taijitu had a head missing, and the deathstalker was missing a pincer. The entire group of Grimm had been dazed by the attack the boy gaped at the destruction his new grandfather had wrought with a single blow.

"How did he get so strong?" the boy wondered.

"Whelp" Byakko said yawning "time to end this".

In a split second he vanished from the place he was standing with a crunching sound, and was now standing right behind the king taijitu's. Grabbing its tail, he lifted it up and began spinning it around like a flail. Then, flicking his wrist down in a nonchalant manner, threw it at one of the ursa. Still dazed from Byakko's previous attack, it never knew what hit it. The Taijitu slammed into the ursa face first, crushing both the ursa and the Taijitu's skull.

Once again moving at mind boggling speeds, Byakko appeared behind the last 2 ursa and dropped his hand across their backs.

"Aw, do the little teddy bears need a hug" he said with a mischievous grin.

Byakko stood at about the same height as the Ursa, the scene looking like 3 long-time friends. The Ursa looked back at him and then quickly turned, trying to catch him with their claws. Tightening his grip, Byakko slammed the two ursa together as soon as they faced each other, crushing them like eggs.

"In that case you two can hug each other as much as you want" he boomed.

He then turned and looked at the remaining Grimm. The two beowolves had recovered at this point and were charging at him. The deathstalker was also now scuttling in his direction. Laughing, Byakko dove forward and caught both the beowolves in a double lariat, then holding them both in a headlock, turned to look and the deathstalker.

"Time for a little target practice" he said eyeing the deathstalker's stinger.

Carefully taking aim, Byakko passed one of the beowolves from his armpit to his hand, the beast's struggling completely ineffectual, then threw the beast at the deathstalker, the Beowolf flew through the air like an arrow, then was impaled on the Deathstalker's stinger, the other Beowolf soon followed suit and found its place on top of its brethren.

"I win" Byakko exclaimed "where's my prize?"

The deathstalker hissed and charged at Byakko, trying to catch him in its one good pincer.

"Shake" Byakko yelled, shooting out his hand and grabbing the pincer. The deathstalker struggled to pull it free, but wasn't able to budge it an inch.

"Good boy" Byakko said with a grin.

The death stalker's stinger shot down and struck Byakko in the chest, but Byakko just stood there smiling, completely unfazed by the attack. He then grabbed the stinger with his other hand.

"Here's your treat" Byakko yelled, and smashed the stinger right through the deathstalker's head. With that, all the Grimm were now dead.

"Wow grandpa" the boy said popping up "that was awesome!"

"Not really" Byakko said, his nose pointed high in the air "I could have shown many more amazing things if there were more of the things. In fact I was hoping there would be an army of the things by the time a got back here, so I spent an extra-long time hunting."

"You what?" the same old man's voice that had come from the intercom boomed from behind them.

They whipped round and saw him standing at the town's gate, the force field now down. The man was a decrepit old geezer with short white hair and a clean shaven face. He was wearing a red sweater and brown pants, and was carrying a cane in his hands.

"Do you know how much dust we had to use to keep those things out while waited for you" he wheezed, waiving his cane "and why didn't you just finish them quickly instead of doing all that nonsense?"

"Well where's the fun in that?" Byakko exclaimed.

"Everybody in here has their own flippin responsibilities, and you've got the simplest one." said the old man, fuming "Go out every once in a while to get fresh meat, and keep the village safe when your back. If you keep shirking your responsibilities then we're cutting your part of Anna's cooking!"

"Yeah, Yeah" Byakko said waiving his hand "you've said that a million times, Gregory, and you know what? I've never had my ration taken because I'm the one of the most vital parts of this village. Where would you all be without these babies keeping the Grimm away?" he said, flexing his arms and posing.

"Why I oughta-"Gregory paused, and then stared at the boy hiding behind one of Byakko's large legs.

"Say, Byakko, who's the kid?"

"Oh him" Byakko chuckled "He is my new grandson. I found him on the beach and now I plan on raising him as my grandson!"

"You can't just make a random kid you found your grandson!" Gregory yelled.

"Well I just did!" Byakko said patting the boy on the head. "Come on kid, let's go get something to eat" with that he picked the boy up and dashed towards the town.

"Get back hear" they heard Gregory yelled in the distance "I haven't finished with you yet". T

hey passed through the town gate and then the boy got his first good look at the town. There were many different small houses with a variety of designs that looked like they came from all over the world, and everywhere he looked there were old people standing around. As they passed under the town's sign the boy looked up at it and read "Welcome to Cunctantem Cinere, the town where journeys end".

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"So there are only old people in this town" the boy asked through a mouthful of Shepard's pie.

"Yep" Byakko said finishing his 10th plate of venison. "This town has gathered old ladies and geezers from all over the world, who just want to live a quiet life now that their tale is coming to an end. None of them have any family or friends outside of this town and all of them are masters of some kind of skill, Anna for example" he said pointing at an elderly women, working in the kitchen "Is a master chef, with unrivaled skill".

The town was a small village far from any of the kingdoms of Vytal. It was a small village, surrounded on two sides by sea, one side by the forest, and the last by the beach. The town was built in a way that the buildings spiraled out from the center of the village, where the forced field generator was located, with Byakko's nearby; the buildings had a variety of designs due to the diverse population that lived there. It was founded many years ago by a man who wanted to leave the rest of civilization behind, after losing everything that meant anything to him. He had brought along others that felt the same way, and every once in a while someone would leave then come back later with more like-minded people in tow. The town was completely cut off from the rest of the world though, they needed to purchase dust every once in a while to keep the force field generators up and running, update their libraries every once in a while, and stay knowledgeable of the world affairs through the communications mediums. Everyone in the village contributed something to the town, either with skill, knowledge, or good old physical labor. It was a quiet community where most of the villagers merely awaited their ends.

Byakko and the boy were currently eating in Anna's home, which was also one of the main restaurants in the village. Anna was a small old woman with gray hair wrapped into a bun, and was wearing a dark green dress and a messy apron; she was also one of the top chefs in village, and at one point in her life she had owned a 5-star restaurant.

"Hey grandpa" the boy asked "Does that mean you don't have any friends outside this village?" Byakko burst out laughing, then patted the boy on the head

"No, I've got plenty of friends still alive and kicking in this world, I'm just staying here right now to protect the village, after all I've got to do something in return for all the meals I've eaten."

He then motioned to the monumental pile of dishes piled next to him to emphasize his point. "It's not like I'm going to spend my life here though, I'll leave as soon as they don't need me anymore, and since I've got at _least_ a hundred years left in me" Byakko said flexing his right arm "I might as well spend a little of my long life helping them out."

The boy had a feeling his grandpa's logic was quite unsound, but not having a counterargument, he decided to leave the conversation at that.

"Right after we finish eating, let's do some training" Byakko said through a mouthful of spinach and tuna stir-fry "My grandson isn't going to be called a weakling, so we're gonna buckle down hard. I'm going to make sure every inch of you becomes strong, from the tip of your head to the bottom of your foot and even up the shaft of your—" with a clanging sound Anna hit Byakko over the head with a frying pan.

"What vulgar language were you about to use in the presence of this young boy?" she said sternly.

"Ow!" Byakko said rubbing the back of his bruised cranium "take it easy old lady. We're just discussing his training regime, and I really do mean to make sure he gets a big.."

"Clang" the frying pan once again made contact with Byakko's skull.

"Alright, Alright already" Byakko said holding up his hands to defend against the blows "I'll drop the subject". With that Anna nodded and turned to the young boy

"How is the food dear?" she said smiling

"It's really good, thank you grandma" the boy said still digging in "Do you think you could teach me to make food like this?"

"Why not?" Anna said chuckling, "but, we'll have to do it when you're not training with your grandpa here".

"Yeah" Byakko said after downing a large flagon of cider "You can learn from her at night after training, but to make up for the extra time" he said with a mischievous grin "I'll have to make the training a _little_ tougher".

"Okay" the boy said pumping his fist in the air, not understanding the hidden meaning behind his Grandpa's voice, "let's do it".

Suddenly the front door burst open and many old people streamed into the room.

"There really is a little boy here" someone said through the din, "Aw what a cute little one". The boy looked around at all the old people that had streamed in; they were wearing many different types of clothing, most likely from many different cultures, and were all crowding around him asking him questions, many of which he couldn't answer.

"Say boy", said an old man in an engineer's getup "What's your name, mine's Rowan".

"I don't know" the boy said with a shrug "Grandpa said he'd think of one when we got back to the village."

"You haven't given him a name yet?" an old women from the crowd yelled "What kind of Grandpa are you".

"Hey" Byakko said, starting his desert "I thought I'd give everyone a hand in picking the boy a name, seeing as we're all going to be raising him."

"Why are you pushing the responsibility on us?" a man from the crowd cried.

Byakko turned to him with a raised eyebrow

"You really trust _me_ to properly bring up a kid all by myself?"

The old man opened his mouth, closed it then thought for a second.

"You got a point there Byakko" he said submissively "Leave him with you and he'll probably be eaten within the week".

"I'm going to have lots of grandparents?" the boy said with a huge smile "Yahoo" he cried jumping up onto the table, but was quickly put back in his seat by Anna.

"Well" said an old man wearing a yukata "We'd better give him a name first, how about…"

He paused and sniffed the air "Byakko!" he yelled "When was the last time you took a shower!". All the other people in the room began sniffing the air, many of them wrinkling their noses in disgust.

"Why the heck are you saying I'm the source of the smell?" Byakko yelled.

"Because you're the only one in the village who doesn't bathe every day, get to the bath houses and wash yourself off!" the man in the yukata yelled back.

"That's cause I don't need to bath too often" Byakko said lifting his arm up and taking a big whiff of his pits "See, lemony fresh, what do you say to that Hiroshi?".

All the towns people in the room were staring at something next to Byakko, Hiroshi had his arms folded and had a look of smug satisfaction on his face. Byakko turned and saw that the plant next to his pits, that was strong and healthy just a few seconds ago, had now wilted from the stench.

"Fine" Byakko grumbled getting up, "I'll go take the damn bath." And with that he stomped out of the house, and headed up the road to one of the bathhouses.

"Alright then" Hiroshi said clapping his hands together "back to business. What were we discussing again?"

"I think we were going to discuss how to raise him" said a well-groomed man with a long mustache "The boy needs to be educated while he's living here, can't have him going out into the world without any knowledge."

"I could teach him engineering" Rowan yelled,

"And I could teach him musical skills" shouted another old man,

"And there's also that library" an old women yelled out "he could learn a lot there! After all, we've gathered books from all over the world there."

All of the people in the room had lost the ones close to them a long time ago, and never had the chance to raise a child, and when they began discussing what they would teach the boy, all of them felt a glimmer in their hearts, something they all believed they had lost a long time ago. This discussion continued for over an hour, and at the end they compiled a long list of what they were going to teach the boy, and at what times.

"Alright, everyone" Anna said smiling "it's time to discuss a name for the child. How about..."

"Hold it right there" Byakko, burst through the front door and stood there smiling "I knew you were going to start that without me. It's a good thing my instincts told me to come back here quickly."

All the people in the room turned to look at Byakko, who stood there dripping water and wearing nothing but a bath towel wrapped around his waist.

"Oh, put some pants on" a women yelled from the crowd. Ignoring the comment Byakko sat down on a chair

"First of all he has to train everyday with me, right boy?" he said pointing at the boy "Yeah!" the boy said with a big smile. "Hurry up and mark that down then" Byakko said waiving his hands.

The changes were made to the schedule, although many grumbled about giving so much time with the boy to Byakko. Most of them, however, recognized the value of being able to protect yourself in a world full of Grimm though, so they acquiesced to Byakko's demands.

"Alright then" Byakko said smiling "time to discuss the name". Byakko opened his mouth, and then paused, staring at the clock.

"Say, why don't we get the boy to bed? It's getting pretty late and I don't think he wants to be part of this crazy debate"

"I'm not tired" the boy said jumping up "I want to be part of this too".

Anna smiled then picked the child up in her arms, him struggling and trying to be put back down.

"Now, now young one, it's not good to sleep too late. Come on I'll take you to your room and read you a bedtime story." She said with a smile. The boy stopped struggling

"What kind of story?" he inquired.

"A wonderful fairy tale full of charm" Anna answered, and with that brought him out of her home and walked up the road towards Byakko's home. As she held him in her arms, she felt warmth spreading in her breast, the same warmth that everyone else in the town was feeling; it was glow of familial love. Just a few hours ago almost all of them were just living every day in a daze, slowly waiting for the flame of their lives to die, only living on to be helpful to one another. But now they had a new reason to continue living, a hope in the future manifested in the beating heart of this young boy. They would raise him to be a strong, kind, and intelligent young man, one who could accomplish things they had only dreamed of.

They had now arrived at Byakko's home at the center of the village, it was a worn down, yet cozy place that Byakko had slapped together when he had first arrived at the village, and had placed near the generator because "you'll have your two best lines of defense in one place". It was two stories tall, had a kitchen, a family room, and a storage room on the first floor, and 2 bathrooms, and 2 bedrooms on the second floor. Anna walked inside, and then headed up the stairs to the unoccupied bedroom. Inside there was a simple bed, a nightstand, and a chair. Tucking the boy into the bed, Anna pulled a book from inside her dress and lit a candle. The boy stared at her expectantly, wondering what kind of fable would be spun here tonight. The story was a special one, about a man and his dragon on a mission to save the world. Anna recounted the tale with great vigor, personifying each event with the perfect voice; the boy listened with wide eyes, his mind filling with magic and adventure.

After half an hour, they boy was starting to nod off. Anna closed the book, then gave the boy a quick peck on the cheek.

"Sweet dreams dear." She said with a smile. At that moment a booming sound came from downstairs as the door was opened, and within moments Byakko had entered the room.

"We've finally decided on the name" he said with a smile "there was a huge argument, and I think someone got hit with shovel, but we got through it ok."

"Well then, please tell me the name you all decided on" Anna said her eyes gleaming.

Byakko leaned in close and whispered into her ear; she smiled then turned back to the boy.

"What's my name?" the boy said sleepily, feeling the last slivers of his consciousness slipping.

"Lan" Anna said warmly "your name is Lan", and that was the last thing Lan remembered before falling into a deep sleep, his mind whisked away to the depths of dreamland.

**Please give me all your constructive criticism, I wish to improve my abilities as an author! ****I would also appreciate it if you could Like and follow my story, more likes and follows tend to attract more readers, and more readers mean more reviews.**


	3. Chapter 3

Ch 3 The Daily things

Lan lay asleep on the bed, his dreams filled with magic and adventure. It was early morning now, the sun beams trickling through the open window, and birdsong filling the room. His consciousness was just beginning to surface at this point, slowly being drawn out by the promise of a new day. Something was wrong though; there was something amiss in the room right now, but his consciousness wasn't alert enough to tell what it was. The strange feeling slowly roused his from his slumber, enough to awaken some of his senses. He suddenly became aware of a burning smell, along with swishing sound. Opening his eyes, he turned his head and stared towards the center of the room and sitting there was Byakko, who was fanning a large fish over a portable wood fire stove.

"Good morning sleepy head" Byakko said with a smile "bout time you woke up, it's almost breakfast time!"

"Why are you roasting a fish in my room?" Lan inquired.

"Because I felt like it" Byakko responded nonchalantly, "Hurry up and head to the bathroom and brush your teeth, we'll be having breakfast soon" he then paused and looked up at Lan curiously "You do remember how to brush teeth, right?".

After taking a few moments to get over the strangeness of the situation, Lan began thinking a little bit and realized he did know how.

"Looks like the amnesia isn't too bad" Lan thought while stretching. He then hopped out of bed and ran down the hall to the nearest restroom.

After finishing up in the bathroom (with a shower, toilet use, and then tooth brushing), Lan put on some new clothes Anna had left for him and then examined himself in the mirror, to see what he looked like, the amnesia had taken the memory of his appearance from his mind, and he hadn't encountered any reflective surfaces all day yesterday. He had messy black hair with blue highlights, black eyes, was quite lean, and would probably be considered the cute little boy type. He was currently wearing a loose fitting brown jacket with a white trim, a pair of black shorts, and was barefoot (Byakko was against shoes, because he believed that a boy should toughen up his feet by walking bare foot). After confirming his appearance he walked back to his bedroom to have breakfast. When he entered the room Byakko was sitting there waiting for him… holding the bones of the tuna fish.

"Hey!" Lan said slightly miffed, "I thought you said we were going to have breakfast?"

"Yep" Byakko said, munching down the fish bones "We'll be eating at Anna's, I was just having a little appetizer while I was waiting for you to get ready." With that he got up, walked out of the room, and headed for the front door, Lan following close behind him.

"Ah, what a perfect day!" said Byakko once they were outside, and it truly was. The morning air was crisp and clear, the sun was shining with only a few clouds were passing by here and there. They walked down from the house, and headed towards Anna's restaurant, greeting anybody they happened to come across. Once they arrived at Anna's home, a small brick building with a restaurant sign hanging from the door, they found Anna was already waiting for them.

"About time you two arrived" she said smiling, "I've prepared a buffet for the two of you". Inside, one of the tables was strewn with delicacies of all sorts. It included roasted meats, assorted eggs, a variety of different baked goods, and a menagerie of juices. Lan and Byakko plopped down on the table and began digging into the meal, Lan eating at the normal rate a young boy would and Byakko finishing multiple plates in a matter of seconds. While they were eating they began to discuss their schedule for today, and all the normal days in a year.

"First thing in the morning" Byakko said through a mouthful of eggs "is training with me, we'll probably do around four hours worth of it, maybe more depending on the situation that day, and then you will go receive lessons from the other villagers. Who will be teaching you that day, and what exactly you'll be learning I have no idea. I'll be gone during that time to go hunting, someone's got to keep this village's meat supply properly stocked".

"Aren't you the one that eats the most of it" Anna said, chuckling to herself.

"Hey, I'm just taking my honest share" Byakko said with mock hurt.

After a few more minutes Lan and Byakko had finished their meal and were getting ready to leave. "Alright Lan" Byakko said stretching

"We'll be training outside the village in the forest, before you woke up this morning I went out and cleared out all the Grimm within a 100 mile radius, so you should be pretty safe."

"What about the village?" Lan asked looking up "Don't you need to protect them?"

"Don't worry" Byakko responded "they have one of the best dust force fields in existence, and if things become complicated they can fire one of the signal flares, which will send us running back to the village."

Satisfied with the response Lan got up and headed for the door.

"Wait one moment Lan" Anna yelled, she pulled out a small lunch box and handed it to him. "Here's a little something in case you get hungry, our little warrior must keep up his strength if he is going to train well" she said, pinching his cheeks.

Lan thanked her, then followed Byakko out of her home, then they headed out of the village, and walked into the forest.

After walking for around 15 minutes they arrived at a clearing.

"Alright boy" Byakko said folding his arms "We'll start with strengthening your body, then after you've built up a good foundation, I'll start teaching you fighting techniques."

"I'm ready" Lan shouted with a determined look on his face.

"Alright then" Byakko said with a smile "we'll start with something simple since it's your first day training. Let's see, what should I have you do? hmmmm."

Byakko pondered for a few moments and then turned back to Lan.

"Give me 100 push-ups, 100 squats, and 100 sit-ups, after that we'll do some stretching exercises and a 10km run".

"Okay" Lan shouted, not realizing the magnitude of his training regime. He then dropped down and began his pushups, and after completing 30 he paused to rest.

"upupupup" Byakko tutted "I never said you could rest, between reps, now get back too it before I wallop you!"

A normal child would have begun complaining at this point, but Lan simply looked up, nodded, then continued. Byakko knew the child wasn't normal, in fact that's why he imposed a training regime that would normally be too much for a normal young boy, there was no way a normal child could have survived drifting through the sea and arriving on a beach shore without being eaten by the Grimm that roamed the waters.

"Let's see how special this boy really is" Byakko thought. They then continued the training regime, Byakko whacking Lan with his tail every time Lan stopped to rest. After an hour or so, they finished the muscle training, and Lan began eating his lunch.

"Alright Lan" Byakko said, stealing pieces of food from the lunch box, Lan protesting all the while "Since we're going to be running anyway, I may as well show you a few nice places, and introduce you to a few friends, you'll love them."

After finishing the lunchbox, most of it winding up in Byakko's gut, the two of them got up, finished a few simple stretches, and then began running through the forest with Byakko leading and Lan struggling to keep up. They passed many beautiful places while they were running, crystal clear streams with animals drinking at the edge, breathtaking waterfalls falling into grottos beneath the earth, and wide open meadows bursting with wildflowers, just to name a few. Eventually they made their way to an enormous tree, far from the village, that must have been at least ten stories high. The area around the tree was mostly barren, with grass poking out here and there, there was a path leading up to a hole in the tree that looked like a cave opening, and strewn all over the area were bones of many different animals . Lan looked around nervously, wondering what his grandpa had brought him here to see. Suddenly a growling sound filled the area and glowing eyes lit up within the confines of the tree.

"Grandpa must have brought me here to fight Grimm" Lan thought, clenching his fists "I won't betray his expectations."

Slowly, the beasts began to exit their cave, but instead of the Grimm Lan had been expecting, what emerged from the cave was a pack of large blood red wolves. Lan, put up his fists ready for a brawl.

"Calm down, kid" Byakko said, chuckling "they're friends".

With that Byakko brought his fingers to his lips and let out a loud whistle. The wolves stopped growling, looked in Byakko's direction, and then began wagging their tails apparently happy to see him.

"Come on Lan" Byakko said confidently "Let's go meet the pack".

The two of them began walking in the direction of the wolves, and at the same time other wolves began coming out of the cave, the families of the larger wolves. The wolves began growling again once they caught sight of Lan, but Byakko slammed his hands together in a thundering clap and fixed them with a criticizing eye.

"He's a friend boys and girls, treat him well".

The wolves, completely understanding Byakko, plodded over to Lan and began sniffing him, then after the whole group had gotten his sent, they began to lick him.

"Hey!" Lan said laughing "that tickles."

"Nice pack don't you think" Byakko said with a smile " I became friends with them a few years back when I saved them from a bunch of Grimm, and now they treat me like the Alpha wolf, and since your **my** pup, they'll be treating you well."

Byakko whistled, and the older wolves dispatched themselves from the group to go meet him. Lan then felt a pull on the hem of his pants, and looked down to see a little pup chewing on his pants.

"Pretty ironic that they like me so much huh kid" Byakko said patting one of the wolves on the head, "Why?" Lan responded, "You know" Byakko said "that thing with cats and dogs and how they…Oh never mind you'll get it eventually."

Byakko then started conversing with the older wolves that strangely seemed able to understand him. After a few moments Byakko nodded and turned back to Lan.

"Well, have fun playing kids", he said cracking his knuckles "Us adults are going to go on a little hunting trip to help the pack stock up on food rations."

Byakko and most of the older wolves then dashed into the forest, and quickly disappeared from sight.

Lan picked up the little puppy that was chewing his pants and brought the little guy up to eye level. The pup yipped then licked Lan's nose.

"You're my first animal friend" Lan said bringing the wolf pup into a hug "I think I'll give you a name".

Lan thought for a few moments and quickly formulated a list of names, he then ran down the list in his mind and picked out a good one.

"I'll name you Ignis, it's the name of one of the fire spirits from a book grandma Anna read to me last night".

The puppy looked very much like all the others, but the hair on the sides of its body had flame like patterns, which allowed Lan to distinguish it from the rest. The little dog yipped apparently pleased with the new name. After that Lan spent the next hour playing with the rest of the puppies in the pack, during which many of his clothes were removed and chewed up, and once Byakko returned with the other adult wolves Lan was chasing all the puppies in his underwear, trying to get his clothes back.

"How the heck did that happen?" Byakko said dropping the fresh kill he and the wolves had made.

"I don't know" Lan responded desperately "We started playing on the ground and before I knew it they'd taken my clothes off" Lan pointed to the puppies, who were beginning to shred the clothes.

"Well show some dominance!" Byakko said slamming his fist into his palm "You've got to show them who's boss!"

"I've been asking them nicely, but they don't listen!" Lan said, beginning to panic.

Byakko sighed, he made a mental note to teach Lan how to be more assertive later, but for now he had to get those clothes back, Anna would be furious if they were damaged too much. Byakko took a deep breath, and then let out an ear-splitting shout. The puppies were startled and dropped the clothes, then turned to look in his direction.

"Bring them here" Byakko said pointing at his feet.

The puppies seeming to understand quickly picked up the clothes and brought them over Byakko's feet, not wanting to incite his wrath. Byakko and Lan then brought the clothes to a nearby stream and washed them. Once they were hung to dry they continued with training

"Alright Lan" Byakko said "time for the technical part".

Byakko then began teaching Lan basic martial arts movements, which included punches; kicks; and foot techniques from a variety of different styles, Lan failed rather often, but was picking up them up much faster than a normal boy. What Byakko taught was very different from his own combat style, which was a formless brawling technique that he had developed many years ago. He did so because his fighting style relied heavily on his natural wildness, instincts, and overwhelming destructive power, so it may not have been the best style to teach Lan.

"Every one's got one fighting style their best" he thought, while fixing one of Lan's kicking positions "I'll just see where the kid's talents lie, then go from there".

Byakko was using the most basic knowledge of the many martial arts he knew to try and figure out what style would be most suitable for Lan, after which he would research in it in depth by visiting some of his old constituents. However, at Lan's current age, it may take a year or two before he could discern what it was, so what was important right now was to teach him the basics and build up Lan's physical foundation so he would be ready when it was time. There was also unlocking his aura to consider. After thinking for a bit, Byakko decided not  
to unlock the boy's aura at present time for two reasons. One, the sudden influx of power may destabilize the boy and throw his mentality off balance, two he may not be ready to handle the aura yet and may hurt himself.

"Once the boy kills his first Grimm, I'll unlock his aura" Byakko decided, "That may not be for a few years though", after finishing that thought, he returned his full attention to fixing Lan's bad posture.

The basic training continued for another hour, after which it was then time for the two to return to the village. Lan put his clothes back on now that they were done drying then turned back to the tree cave "Bye guys" Lan said waving at the wolves, sweat dripping down his face

"I'll come see you guys again later". In response the wolves began howling in unison, a tribute to their new friend. Lan and Byakko then turned around and walked back along the path to the village.

.

.

.

When they arrived back at the village, almost the entire village was waiting in the square, many of the denizens eager to teach their new young ward.

"Well" Byakko said, patting Lan on the back, "it's their turn now. See you in a few hours." And with that Byakko dashed out of the village and back into the forest to get food for the village.

After he left, the force field generator was quickly switched on, and Lan was quickly ushered into a large meeting hall where he took a seat in the middle of a circle of chairs. The meeting hall was an old building with a high ceiling and a screen and projector at one end of the hall. The building was made from painted wood, and generally had the look of an old style town hall.

The people had gathered Lan there to give him an introduction to what he would be learning. Taking the lead was old man Hiroshi now wearing a large imperial looking robe.

"Alright everyone please tell the boy what you will be teaching him".

Everyone in the room began shouting out their topic, and the topics stated were very varied, From Math; English; and Science to Cooking; Acting; and how to win in gambling matches. Hiroshi amazingly was able to record every single topic on a piece of paper; he then entered them into his computer and projected a spread chart with every mentioned topic onto the screen.

"Now I know we were supposed to finish the scheduling last night" he said with a frown, "But thanks to a certain someone sitting in the middle of the front row, I was knocked out with a shovel and we weren't able to get anything one!"

A man wearing a gardener's clothing looked down, embarrassed.

"Now then, when will you be able to teach him?"

The group members began shouting out their available hours, Hiroshi quickly inputting them onto the digital spreadsheet. After a few more minutes, everything was set, Lan would be learning from 6 different people every day for different periods of time. They had also decided to aside four hours a day just for Lan, the first with Lan staying in the library to read whatever he felt like (with the help of Librarian Donavan of course, a wiry old man with large spectacles), and the last three for free time. Once they had everything set, the first person scheduled to teach Lan that day brought him to his home and began to teach him his trade. Lan went through each of his lessons with ease, enjoying learning about the new subjects, and soaking in all the information like a sponge, an ability only a young a pure child possesses. That day he learned basic arithmetic, cooking, farming, music, reading and writing, and painting. Afterwards, he was sent to the library where he headed to the fairy tale section and began reading a menagerie of books, completely enchanted by the magical worlds filled with adventure. He even spent his 3 hours free time in there, loving every page of the wondrous tales. Once his last hour of free time was over, Donavan came to get him for supper at Anna's, where Byakko was already waiting for him.

"So" Byakko said smiling "how was your first day?"

"It was great" Lan said, his eyes sparkling "I learned so much fun stuff, and read lots of exciting stories".

"Well your day is about to get even better" Byakko said reaching into his jacket, "Behold!" he said pulling out a strange looking mushroom.

"Wow" Lan said, then quickly realizing he didn't know what it was asked "What is it?".

"It is a rare nigrum truffle" Byakko said drooling "they are rare delicacies, and I found this baby while I was tackling a warthog this afternoon and I thought I'd share it with you".

"Aww" Lan said genuinely touched "Is it really that good?"

"Yeah!" Byakko said loudly "they absolutely explode with flavor! But if you don't prepare them correctly they'll make you explode with—-"he paused, and then looked up, noticing the frying pan inches from his head.

"Right" Byakko said calmly "I guess I'll just leave it at that".

Anna nodded then took the mushroom from Byakko's hand, and headed to the kitchen to prepare the meal. Lan and Byakko were now waiting for the food to be prepared, and taking that time Lan decided to think about things.

"I don't really remember what happened before I got here" he thought sadly "but things are going great so far, I have a great family now, I'm learning so much about the world, and I'm going to get stronger every day."

He turned towards Byakko and smiled, thinking about what amazing things he'll see and learn about in this town.

"I'm going to grow up to be someone they can all be proud of, someone they won't be ashamed to call their grandson" Lan decided "I'm going to become just like one of the heroes in the stories I read, maybe even better."

"What is there something on my face?" Byakko said, noticing Lan's stare.

"No" Lan said still smiling "I was just spacing out while thinking of the future".

Soon after, the food arrived. After they finished the initial courses the truffle dish was brought out and was truly delicious. Lan would remember that taste all his life, a taste that would always remind him of a new beginning. After the two of them had finished their meal, they headed back home. They then headed upstairs, where Byakko tucked Lan into bed, patted him on the head, and then gave reading a bed time story a shot. He chose an excellent story about an ancient journey, but completely failed when it came to voicing the characters properly and got many of the words wrong. After finishing it, he switched of the lights, went to his own bedroom, and quickly fell asleep, his snores audible even through the thick walls.

Lan lay in bed, his mind buzzing with excitement.

"I wonder what tomorrow will be like" he thought "There are so many things left to do, and so many things left to see".

His active mind kept him awake for a period of time, but a boy as young as he was can't stay awake too long, and soon he was fast asleep. His dreams filled with visions of his exciting future, and the hope that tomorrow may bring.

**Please give me all your constructive criticism, I wish to improve my abilities as an author! ****I would also appreciate it if you could Like and follow my story, more likes and follows tend to attract more readers, and more readers mean more reviews.**


	4. Chapter 4

Ch 4, The Wheels of fate begin to turn

2 years later

Lan is now 5 years old and has grown slightly taller and more muscular. The indecisiveness in his voice has vanished and he now has a constant spark of creativity in his eyes. He has also become reasonably adept with many of the martial arts Byakko has taught him and quite proficient in many of the skills the other villagers have taught him.

It was a warm summer day in Cunctantem Cinere and Lan was currently out training with Byakko, so the denizens of the village were taking it easy and enjoying the afternoon. In a little Gazebo, a few of the villagers had come together to discuss Lan and his time spent in the village, they were having cups of tea and some of Anna's specialty tea cookies.

"It's been two years since Lan came here" Hiroshi said stroking his beard "and he has made so much progress!"

"I know!" said Rowan enthusiastically "the kid is already getting the hand of a lot of the engineering techniques and already knows how to slap together some basic vehicles and weaponry. It's awesome!"

Lan had been progressing at an astonishing rate through all the skills and abilities that had been taught to him. He had mastered many skills and was quite skilled in many other abilities, including cooking, arithmetic, engineering, music, and surprisingly gambling.

"Yes" said Edgar in an over impassioned voice "his mastery of the arts is astounding! His paintings have begun to show the spark of life, his music has begun to touch the soul, and—"

"But the biggest change" said Lief, an expert fisherman and seagull Faunus, quickly cutting in to Edgar's rant "are his combat skills. He has survived Byakko's crazy training and has made leaps and bounds in strength and finesse… no pun intended."

With that all of them laughed and looked into the sky. The boy had become very important to all of them over these past two years; he was kind, passionate, and ever willing to try something new. He was their pride, treasure, and hope.

"But" said Anna, sighing "he has been starting to pick up bits and pieces of Byakko's personality quirks"

Everybody groaned once she said this, all aware of the horrible changes the boy had begun to make.

"I guess he does spend the most time with him" said Gregory "I just wish Lan would have taken Byakko as an example of what _not _to be."

Over the past two years Lan had started becoming more impulsive and unpredictable, getting into crazy situations and doing wacky things.

"I'll say" Rowan said sighing "I honestly can't believe that he made a full automated toilet launcher out of some junkyard parts. It was both deadly _and _hilarious."

To emphasize his point, he lifted up his shirt and showed a scar where a piece of porcelain had pierced him when Lan had tested the contraption out.

"He's still young though" said Hiroshi, sipping his tea "so he will have plenty of time to learn that this behavior will only get him into trouble in the real world."

"HEY FELLAS, WHAT'S GOING ON!?"

The entire group leapt out of their seats, and turned in the direction of the all too familiar voice. Byakko stood there with his usual massive grin sitting cleanly on his face.

"Oh? Tea and snacks? Count me in guys" with that Byakko darted forward, shoved one hand into the plate of cookies on the table and removed a large handful, and at the same time his tail whipped out, grabbed the tea pot, and poured some into an empty cup.

"What the heck are you doing here" shouted Greb, an old Gorilla Faunus, who was one of the villages farmers "You're supposed to be training Lan right now!"

"Aw relax" Byakko said with his mouth full "today I'm having him spar with his old friend Ignis, and I'm having one of the older wolves watch over them today so they should be fine."

"You left a young boy with two wild wolves?" Hiroshi face, his face flushed with anger and his voice shaking "That's just… just"

"Calm down you old fart" Byakko said downing his tea "The wolves wouldn't dare touch a hair on his head. They have already accepted him as my cub, so their treating him as the son of their Alpha, and wolves would never do anything to hurt the Alphas cub when he's still young, isn't that right John?"

Byakko's comment was directed at John, an old zoologist with a long beard.

"True" John said stroking his beard "until the young wolf reaches the age to begin competing and working with the rest of the pack, he will treated like all the rest, however depending on certain environmental stimu—"

"you heard the man" Byakko said, quickly cutting John off "So just relax, I'm going to head back to check on him in a little while, and I'm sure the kid will be fine as long as he doesn't do something too stupid while I'm gone, and considering he's my grandson what are the odds of that?"

At that comment, everyone at the table groaned, and began a silent prayer; all hoping Lan would be fine.

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.

.

Lan peeked out from the corner of his eye at the older wolf; it was fast asleep, snoozing in the morning sun.

"Yes!" Lan thought "Those herbs can really do the trick".

Right after Byakko had left them, Lan and Ignis caught a rabbit. Using knowledge he had gained about herbs he had gained from one of the village doctors, Lan had tracked down the sleep inducing herbs in the forest a few days before, and today Lan cooked the rabbit with the herbs and had offered it to the older wolf. It had been suspicious at first, but its suspicions were soon dispelled by the odors rising from Lan's cooking, and ate the rabbit whole.

A few months ago Lan had overheard Byakko and some of the other villagers talking about his training. He had learned that Byakko did not plan on unlocking his aura until he had slain his first Grimm.

"I won't be able to become a hero without releasing the power within my soul" Lan thought "and I'm more than ready to take down a Grimm with my abilities."

For the past two months Lan had been planning how to handle this problem, but he believed that Byakko may not believe him even if he brought back a dead Grimm, because he had become much closer with the wolves recently and was capable of convincing them to take one down for him. So his remaining option was to trap one, bring it back to the village and slay it in front of everyone. For something like this proper planning and procedure was necessary. Whenever Byakko had left him to himself, or had fallen asleep, Lan snuck off into the forest to search for possible targets. A few weeks ago he had found it, an ursa minor that was living alone in a small cave near their usual training sites. He had spent the last two weeks preparing for his excursion by studying the ursa's behavioral pattern from afar, and preparing the tools and traps he would need. The cave was currently surrounded by a menagerie of traps Lan had made from scrap parts he found in the villages junk heap and things he had found in the forest, all of them nowhere near the areas where the ursa normally travels. He was planning to lure the ursa into one of them with a special fragrant honey he had "borrowed" form Anna's cupboard, he kept in a small flask in his jacket. After the ursa was securely in one of the traps, which ranged from pits covered with leaves to nets and cages, Lan planned to bombard it with small homemade explosives he had made with gunpowder he had "borrowed" from one of the fireworks experts, scraps he had taken from the junk heap, and pressure pads taken from Rowan's workshop. They were percussive explosives that detonate upon impact, and could be switched on and off with a button, they were also rather weak because he didn't want them to be strong enough to break whatever prison the ursa wound up in, but strong enough, that enough of them could wear the ursa down. Once the ursa was weakened he would take one of the transportation vehicles he had made (once again from scrap parts), connect it to what the ursa was imprisoned in (he would have to transfer the ursa into a different containment medium if it was trapped in a hole though), then take it back to the village where he would finish it off in front of his grandpa.

Right before heading off, Lan quickly took stock of what he had: 30 of the small explosives, the small flask of fragrant honey, an emergency flare in case something went wrong, two chocolate bars, and a small hunting knife.

"Are you ready Ignis?" Lan said to his now slightly larger friend.

Ignis barked and wagged his tail, conveying the message that he was. Lan and Ignis were at present, the best of friends; they had grown up together and played together frequently. Ignis had helped Lan where he could over the past few months in gathering material and setting up traps, and was now itching to see some action (although he understood less than a fourth of what was actually going on).

Lan and Ignis dashed away from the clearing they were currently in and headed in the direction of the ursa's cave. They kept running until they reached a cliff, overlooking a small valley where the cave was located in. From Lan's previous experiences the ursa would be in its cave right now and wouldn't come out for another hour or two. Taking another minute to scout the situation, Lan took note of all the surrounding traps he had laid, and decided that the trapping pit nearest to the cave's entrance would be the ideal place to trap the ursa. Lan and Ignis then carefully made their way down the side of the cliff, hopping from ledge to ledge until they reached the forest floor. Then, moving quietly, they moved through the forest, weaving among the trees and shrubberies until they were about ten meters from the entrance of the cave. Lan and Ignis quickly hid behind a tree, and then Lan slowly stuck his head out to get a good look at the inside of the cave. The ursa was inside, seemingly asleep.

"Okay" Lan thought, pulling out the flask of honey "now for the hard part".

He had to create a small trail with the honey, leading to the pit. He had enough in the flask, but the honey's powerful smell would without a doubt rouse the ursa in a matter of minutes. So he had to create the trail, place the bottle on the leaves covering up the pit, and then hide in the bushes close to it all before the ursa caught up. Lan took a deep breath and placed his hand on the stopper.

"Let's rock" he thought, and with that pulled out the stopper and began trickling the honey onto the ground.

He then took off running in the direction of the pit, Ignis close behind him. A few minutes later he heard a roaring sound and knew the ursa had awakened.

"Come on" Lan thought panting, "Just a few hundred more meters".

After another minute of running, he broke through the tree line and came into the clearing with the pit. The pit was located right in the center and would be quite obvious to any intelligent observer, covered with leaves of all different kinds of colors, but would easily fool a brutish Grimm.

"Now to place the final piece of bait" Lan said panting.

The flask still had a good deal of honey in it and would easily attract the ursa, so Lan place the flask on top of the leaves above the pit, putting it as far as his arm would allow him, then quickly dashed into some nearby bushes and crouched down waiting. A few seconds later he felt a cold wet nose touch his back and knew that Ignis had joined him. Now they just had to wait for the ursa to arrive. Minutes crept by slowly, Lan beginning to sweat and Ignis crunching on a random object he had found.

"Why the heck isn't that ursa here yet?!" Lan thought after a few more minutes "he should have had plenty of time to-"

Suddenly there was a shaking in the undergrowth on the left side of the clearing, and the ursa appeared, licking the honey that was drizzled on the grass.

"Alright big guy" Lan thought "just a few more steps until you get the final prize….Doom! hehehe."

The ursa continued to walk toward the pit licking up the honey, then suddenly stopped right in front of the pit, started sniffing, and then turned in Lan's direction.

"What the?" Lam thought," Why isn't it going for the flask of…."

It was then that he noticed that the flask wasn't on the leaves.

"Where the heck did…." he then heard a cracking sound and, with a sinking feeling in his stomach, looked down at Ignis.

The young wolf looked up at him wagging its tail… the flask broken into pieces in his paws.

"Oh you little piece of-", Lan was cut off by the roaring that erupted from the ursa as it charged in his direction, noticing the two in the bushes.

Lan and Ignis quickly darted in opposite directions, avoiding the charging Grimm by a hair.

"No use blaming the little guy now" Lan thought, regaining his posture and turning to face the Grimm "I got to think of a plan."

The Grimm roared and charged at the boy, its red eyes fixed on its prey. Lan quickly pulled out two of the explosives, activated them and chucked them at the Grimm. The explosives flew at them Grimm, connected with its face, and burst into two small explosions. The Grimm jumped back a short distance shaking its head, slightly dazed. Taking the opportunity, Lan ran a bit farther ahead and hid behind a tree. The Grimm had now recovered and began prowling the area in search of its quarry.

"Alright" Lan thought "what can I do now?"

Quickly assessing the situation, Lan remembered that there were many smaller traps set around this area, they were crude traps that were only designed to deal a small bit of damage, but were good at stalling for time. He had set them up in case anything unexpected happened

"good thing I set up a contingency plan" Lan thought "Now I just need to plan the route and-"

A yipping sound suddenly interrupted his train of thought. He peeked out from behind the tree and was greeted by the sight of the Ignis cornered by the ursa.

"He's covered in the honey!" Lan realized "the ursa would've been able to find him easily!"

Lan darted out from behind the tree, heading toward the ursa, that now had its back to him. The ursa stood up on its hind legs and raised one of its paws, ready to cut the young wolf down. Putting on an extra burst of speed, Lan leapt forward and slip between the ursa's legs, striking its knees with his elbows. Then, once he saw the creature's face, he threw up bomb that he had in his hand, which made contact with the ursa's chin. In mid-swing and completely off guard, the ursa was knocked off balance by the explosion and fell onto its back.

"Come on little buddy" Lan said to Ignis "We've got to run, and this time make sure you follow my instructions."

Ignis yipped in understanding, then the two of them took off in the direction of the first trap, Lan explaining the strategy to Ignis, and the little puppy amazingly seemed to understand. The ursa was now back on its feet and began chasing after them, now completely enraged.

"Alright" Lan said after a little while "get ready to split".

The ursa was now gaining on them, much faster than the two young being that it chased.

"Now!" Lan yelled.

The two of them then ran in opposite directions to the left and right of their previous course. This tactic confused the ursa for a few seconds, and in that time it ran past where the two friends had split up and with a click stepped onto a pressure pad. This triggered the release of a swinging log which came down directly in front of the ursa and caught it in the face. The ursa was thrown back several meters and collapsed on its back groaning.

"Yes!" Lan exclaimed, several yards from the site of collision "Success!"

But the ursa was quickly back on its feet again and turned towards Lan, its eyes glowing red with anger.

"Uh Oh" Lan said, noting the short distance the ursa was from his current position.

The ursa made a move to rush in Lan's direction, but suddenly yelped and turned to look behind it. Ignis had snuck up behind it and bit it on the butt. The young wolf was now growling and shaking its head, with his fangs piercing the ursa's gluteus Maximus. The ursa turned and raised its arm to swat the little puppy. Lan quickly pulled out another explosive and hucked it at the ursa. The explosive came into contact with the ursa's face seconds before it brought its arm down. The blast once again disoriented the beast, and using that time Ignis detached his jaws and ran towards Lan.

"Come on little buddy, more traps ahead" the two of them then took off running through the forest once again.

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.

.

A half hour, a couple dozen traps, many wolf bites, and many explosives later, the two of them came back to the clearing where they the pit was located, the ursa had slowed considerably now due to the many wounds it had received from the many traps Lan had set. The two of them could hear it roaring some distance behind them, trying in vain to keep up.

"Alright" Lan said panting, almost out of breath from all the running he had been doing "time for the coup de grace".

Taking out his last few explosives, Lan activated them and buried them under a pile of leaves near the pit. Lan and Ignis then ran around to the other side of the pit and sat down to wait and recover. They didn't have to wait long before they heard a crashing snapping noise which accompanied the ursa plodding into the clearing. By now it was covered in burn marks from Lan's explosives, torn up from some lacerating traps, and covered in bruises from the blunt force ones. After shaking its head to clear away its exhaustion, it noticed Lan standing on the other side of the clearing and growled.

"Come on you big teddy bear" Lan said in a mocking tone "Come and get us"

Lan then turned around, dropped his pants and spanked his ass in the direction of the ursa. Enraged, the bear dashed forward roaring, determined to tear the boy apart… and stepped right onto the pile of leaves that concealed the bombs. The combined force of the explosives detonating all at once blasted the ursa a few feet into the air and, carried forward by its running momentum, the ursa sailed onto the leaves covering the hole, crashed through them, and fell deep down into the maw of the pit. A few seconds later there was a resounding crash, accompanied by a grunt, and then the only noise audible from the pit was a shallow breathing noise.

"Yahoo" Lan said, pulling his pants back on "It's in!"

Lan and Ignis then began dancing around the pit, celebrating their victory.

"I was a little worried when you screwed up back there you little glutton" Lan finally said after a few minutes, patting Ignis on the head "But everything turned out A-Okay, now let's get this ursa back to the village and…"

Lan suddenly heard a growling noise coming from right behind him, he whipped round and found himself staring face to face with and ursa major.

"I thought it was unusual that nothing came after all the ruckus we made" Lan said, gulping "are you that guy's mommy?".

The ursa roared and Lan turned around trying to sprint away before his was mauled, but then a large slamming noise erupted behind him along with a burst of wind. Lan turned around, and was greeted with a welcoming sight. Byakko stood there, on top of the crushed ursa with a big grin on his face.

"Grandpa!" Lan said, relief filling his voice "you made it just in time." Ignis yipped in approval that ran over and started licking Byakko's legs.

"Not really" Byakko said shrugging "I've been watching you for a few minutes now."

"What?" Lan said, his smile disappearing and being replaced by a look of perplexity "you mean you were watching all those times me and Ignis were about to get mauled?"

"Yep!" Byakko said with his usual grating voice.

Ignis made a confused sound and turned to look and Lan. Lan simply stared at his grandfather for a minute and then shrugged; things like this had become normal to him now.

"But this was quite devious of you" Byakko said "preparing all of this in secret without telling any of us? For shame little man."

Lan looked down, embarrassed, then suddenly remembering his accomplishment, broke into a huge smile and looked up at Byakko.

"So" Lan said in a nonchalant tone "I guess that means you saw the whole ordeal I went through to catch that ursa?"

"Yeah" Byakko replied "and I must say that was really messy, I saw you make tons of mistakes, you were lucky that ursa didn't tear you apart".

"But still" Lan said smiling "I caught it, and now I can finish it off at any time."

Byakko looked over at the pit then back at Lan, then reached up and started scratching his head

"I guess so." Byakko said grinning, "So what now?"

"I think you already know" Lan said, obviously excited "It's aura time!"

"Alright" Byakko said chuckling and shaking his head "Just finish off that ursa in the pit and we'll head back to the village and tell everyone. I'm sure they'll all be impressed, Heck they may even throw you a party." Byakko said holding his chin between his thumb and forefinger "and after all the fun is done, then I'll unlock your aura."

"Deal!" Lan exclaimed, jumping up and down "now I just gotta…" Lan reached into his pouch and found that he had ran out of explosives, "One sec" Lan said to Byakko, and took off into the forest.

He came back later holding lots of little sacs of gunpowder, pieces of string, what appeared to be many thin strips of plant substance, and a jar full of a sticky liquid. While Lan had been setting up the other traps, he had set up small supply caches throughout the area in case he needed them to enhance current traps.

"You better give back everything you borrowed after we're done" Byakko said "a lot of the villagers have been missing things they needed."

"Right after my aura is unlocked" Lan said, placing everything down on the floor "I'll be able to gather them up more easily that way".

He then set about putting together a large explosive from the materials, and amazingly, he finished it after just a few minutes.

"Will you hurry it up?" Byakko said, now laying down and propping his head up with his hand "We got a celebration to plan"

"One moment" Lan said hefting up the large bomb "I just need a light".

Lan then dropped to his knees and began crawling around and staring intently at the ground. After a few minutes Lan picked up two dark stones and got back up.

"Why didn't you keep any spark rocks with you boy?" Byakko said "didn't I tell you just a few weeks ago that keeping sparking material with you is an important survival skill?"

"Sorry" Lan said blushing "must have slipped my mind".

Lan then walked over to the bomb, picked it up, and carried it over to the pit. He dropped the bomb right at the edge, and then began striking the two spark rocks near the fuse. After a few tries the fuse ignited, lighting up like a holiday sparkler.

"Bombs Away!" Lan cried, giving the bomb a good kick.

The explosive fell over the edge, and a few seconds later there was a grunt as it landed on the ursa. Preparing himself for the explosion soon to come, Lan took off running away from the pit as fast as his legs could carry him and hid behind the largest most solid object he could find… his grandpa's back. A minute passed and everything remained quiet. Lan peeked out from behind Byakko and stared at the pit.

"I guess I made a mistake with wrapping the-" he was cut off mid-sentence as a huge blast burst from the pit, breaking the ground around it and sending a column of flame and dust up into the air. The soot shot out in all directions and covered everything surround the hole, including Byakko, and the parts of Lan that were peeking out from behind him. Byakko, with the front part of his body completely black, got up walked over to the pit and stared down into it. He then whipped around and stuck out both his thumbs in Lan's direction.

"It's GOOD!" he said with a big grin on his face.

"Woohoo" Lan responded, jumping up and down.

"Time to head back now" Byakko said, picking Lan and Ignis up and setting them on his shoulder "we've got to show everyone the new hero!".

Then with speed much faster than the eye could detect, Byakko dashed out of the clearing and headed back towards the village, making sure to drop off Ignis at the tree cave on the way.

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.

"You Idjit!" Gregory yelled at the top of his lungs "What the hell did we say? Don't leave the boy alone and for heaven's sake—"

"Oh will you shut already" Byakko yelled back cleaning one of his ears with a pinky finger "He's fine isn't he?"

Byakko and Lan had just arrived back at the village half an hour ago, and after they finished filling everybody in on the details, Gregory began yelling at the two of them about how insensitive and stupid they both were. While Gregory and Byakko had begun the usual routine of Gregory yelling his ass off and Byakko not listening to a single word, Anna had taken Lan aside and talked to him about his irresponsible actions. At first Lan had tried to justify his actions, but Anna's calm yet sad gaze and the worry in her voice eventually broke through his indignation and brought his remorse to the surface.

"Don't ever do something so reckless again" Anna said "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something had happened to you"

"I'm sorry" Lan said, a tear trickling down the side of his face "I'll make sure to act more responsibly from now on".

Anna smiled and brought Lan into a loving embrace.

"I know you will" she said with smile.

"But it is truly astounding that such a young child was able to best a creature of Grimm" Hiroshi said, stroking his chin "It truly is a miracle, and I believe the boy should be rewarded for such an accomplishment"

"Yeah!" Byakko said, currently holding Gregory in a headlock "Let's have a party!"

"I don't like rewarding such reckless behavior" Anna said hesitation in her voice "But it is true that it was quite the accomplishment….Alright then! I'll head to the kitchen and whip up some of my specials."

"WHOOHOO!" Byakko yelled, bending his back and shooting his right index finger into the air.

"Will you let go of me already you overgrown hairball" said Gregory, struggling to be released from the headlock "Your pits smell worse than a sick goat's ass!".

A few minutes later Hiroshi had gathered the rest of the village, and they all began preparing for the festivities. The more able bodied began putting up decorations, and the more mentally focused began planning for the party. The whole village was in fervor, old men and women of all backgrounds and ethnicities running throughout on their busy work. Lan looked over everybody and smiled. He was confident that nowhere else in the world was as cooperative and friendly as the little town here. Byakko was running into and out of the village constantly, bringing the ingredients Anna needed, Hiroshi was directing all the other villagers on what they should work on, Gregory was nagging the crap out of anyone who got a bit lazy, and everybody else was working hard together. Lan had noticed something over the years he had been in the village. There weren't any signs of racism or any other kinds of discrimination. The village had old people of every race and ethnicity from all over Remnant, including many different Faunus but not once did a fight break out over racial issues. He had read many books over the 2 years about the many conflicts that happened in the world on a daily basis, especially the extreme hatred that most humans held toward the Faunus. He had never really understood why they held such animosity towards each other because here in this village humans and Faunus lived together in harmony, albeit they were all old people who were less inclined to judge. In the village, the Faunus were able to handle the more physically demanding tasks more easily than their human counterparts, and the humans provided intellectual expertise in many matters, due to them having more access to education during their younger years.

"But I guess how a person is raised has a big impact on those issues."

With that thought finished, Lan ran off to help an old ferret Faunus put up decorations around the village square and help with anything else that he could.

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A few hours later the preparations were finished, and everyone had gathered in the square. Hiroshi walked up to a podium and began addressing everyone.

"It is my great pleasure to hold the position of master of ceremonies this fine day. Our young ward Lan has successfully defeated his first Grimm!" This announcement was greeted with a huge cheer from the crowd, Lan being patted on the back and congratulated by anyone in arms reach. "And as promised" Hiroshi continued "Byakko will be unlocking his aura and begin training him in its use!" another round of cheering.

"Lan please come up to the stage" Hiroshi called, beckoning Lan with his arm.

Lan quickly disengaged himself from the crowd and ran up to the stage. Hiroshi walked over to Lan placed both hands on Lan's shoulders and stared him straight in the eyes. "After tonight, you will begin to walk down the path of a warrior and by walking down this path you must dedicate yourself to the great virtues that have defined the greatest heroes".

Lan nodded his head, and continued staring into Hiroshi's eyes, with a big grin on his face.

"I'm sure you already know of them, but to make sure you never forget I shall drill them one last time into your mind." Hiroshi then took a deep breath and began listing the virtues "Honor, Justice, compassion, Fortitude, Temperance…" Hiroshi listed off many different virtues, and standing there in the middle of the village with everyone's attention on him, Lan committed every single one of them to memory.

Never in his life would he ever forget them, and he vowed that he would live by these virtues no matter what he encountered during his life. Once Hiroshi finished, he patted Lan once more on the shoulders, then returned to the podium.

"Now I believe I have spoken more than enough" Hiroshi shouted "Let the festivities begin!"

This was greeted by a huge cheer from the crowd, and with that everyone headed off to either get food or be entertained by one of the many events that they had set up earlier. Accompanying all of this was Edgar and the members of his various musical groups, playing an assortment of music of many different genres.

Lan walked around with a cup of apple cider in his hand and watched his beloved grandparents going wild with the festivities. Gregory and Anna were dancing together on the lawn, Byakko was gorging himself on the many delicacies that covered the party table, Rowan was operating many of the entertainment devices, and Hiroshi was cracking open a jar of a strange smelling liquid that the villagers said was "To early for you, Lan." After observing everyone a little bit more, Lan threw all formality to the wind and leapt into the fray. He danced, ate, played, and even performed a few songs with Edgar. The party was marvelous, and would be one Lan remembered for the rest of his life as the start of what would be his long journey.

Things began slowing down after a few hours after the majority of the villagers had drunk many cups of the foul smelling beverages, and were now red in the face and saying strange things. At that point Lan wandered away from the party and walked over to one of the ledges overlooking the sea. It was night now, and the view from where he stood was beautiful. The moon was full, they sky was full of stars and the sea was calm, reflecting the heavens above perfectly. Lan sat there for a while, enjoying the night air and drinking one of Anna's homemade sodas, completely content with the world as it was. He then heard a loud thump behind him. He turned around and was greeted by the sight of Byakko taking a long drink out of a large porcelain jar; he was very red in the face and had the strong odor of the strange drink (which Lan later learned to be called alcohol) all over him.

"Ah" Byakko sighed, a large puff of steam expelled from his mouth "Wah a vonderful might"

"Are you okay grandpa" Lan said, curious about his grandfather's strange speaking pattern.

"Me? I'm vreat" Byakko replied, swaying slightly "Buh I shink I'm a wittle dwunk, bwetter shober up, we gotsh to unlock yer auwa pwetty soon."

Standing up on shaky feet Byakko walked over to the cliff and dove into the sea water below, entering the expanse with a loud splash. Lan gazed over the edge where Byakko had jumped off. He waited for several minutes, but Byakko still didn't come back up. Worried, Lan got up and was about to run back to the village for help. Suddenly the sea in front of him exploded and a giant pillar of water rose into the air. A few minutes later Byakko landed with a crash back on the cliff, dripping wet.

"Brrrrr" he said smiling and swaying his arms "just what I needed to clear the head"

Quickly turning his head to the side, Byakko opened his mouth and ejected a large amount of stomach fluid onto the grass.

"Ahhh!" Lan cried, jumping away to avoid the smelly liquid "What are you doing?"

After ejecting the last drops of the liquid, Byakko wiped his mouth and turned back to Lan.

"Just getting the hangover done with early." He said with a belch "Come on, let's get back to the square. It's time for tonight's big event."

The two of them then began walking back to the village, Lan keeping his distance from Byakko in case anything else disgusting happened.

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.

Lan and Byakko now stood on a stage with the entire village surrounding them and watching (many through drunken eyes) with anticipation.

"Aura" Byakko began, the craziness leaving his voice "is the manifestation of our souls, and what truly allows us to battle the Grimm."

There were shouts of approval from members of the crowd, and to emphasize his point, the villagers who were able to use aura began glowing different colors

"Some people may use fancy weapons, but it would all be for not without the power that dwells within us, the power that allows us to become true warriors. And today" Byakko said, spreading out his arm "you join us".

Byakko then linked his fingers together and extended them out, making a cracking noise, while Lan looked at him excitedly.

"Well then" said Byakko, completely calm at this point "Let's rock".

A brilliant white light began emanating from Byakko's body, putting the brightest lamps in the area to shame and bathing every person in its brilliant glow. Byakko then extended his index finger and touched Lan's forehead. The light entered into his, and warmth spread throughout every corner of Lan's body as the energy flowed through him, unlocking the power hidden within the recesses of his body.

"Hoh!" Byakko said grinning as he sensed some abnormalities in Lan's aura "It seems your aura is already slightly unlocked, I guess in a few more years you would have unlocked it naturally"

At this point Lan's body was beginning to glow a bluish color, slowly growing brighter, then all of a sudden the light died out. Byakko stared at the boy, suprised.

"Hey Lan What's—", before Byakko finished his comment, a huge wave of energy blasted out of Lan in all directions, sending everyone except Byakko flying away.

The energy formed a kind of bubble around Lan, and the majority of it was shooting into the sky, forming a giant, pulsating, blue pillar of energy.

"Ohoh" Byakko said, plantning his feet "that's some serious aura!"

Clouds began forming where the light met the sky, and the sky began rumbling as rain began to fall, as if to signal the beginning of a storm. Oblivious to the chaos around him, Lan stared straight up into his sky, feeling his whole body changing, the energy pouring out like a damned up river that had just been released. His eyes were glowing with a blue light now, and through them he began seeing visions of many strange things. He saw black shadows flying through the sky, he saw the shapes of animals running about frantically, he saw fire raging through places he never knew, and he saw the faces of people he had never met. Innumerable fantastic sight crossed his eyes, but shining above them all, far away at what he saw to be the top of the pillar were the things that he would remember the most vividly.

"It looks like the boy's aura is fully released" Byakko thought "But I better stop this output now, no telling what could happen if the boy uses too much aura".

Focusing his aura into his fingers Byakko began striking certain points on Lan's body, stabilizing the raging energy within him. With the energy beginning to settle down, the light that emanated from Lan's body began to fade and the pillar of light began to disappear. Lan felt exhausted now, every inch of his body numb. He began to tip over, but Byakko quickly dashed forward and caught him in his arms.

"Easy boy, you feeling okay?"

The villagers now came running back, all of them concerned over Lan's wellbeing, but Lan didn't hear any of the words that they spoke to him, his eyes still transfixed far above him. His consciousness began to fade at this point, and his eyelids started growing heavy. He struggled to stay awake, to keep looking at that curious sight above, visible only to his eyes. But it was no use, his eyelids began to droop, and his mind began to lose its grip on reality. Determined to never forget the sight, Lan burned the it into his memory before his consciousness grew any duller. It was important, that was all that he knew, it would be something that he saw in his dreams every night from that day on and would influence his every waking minute. What was the sight that he tried to so hard to keep? It wasn't particularly amazing compared to the many other marvels that danced across his vision, but Lan felt that it was the most significant, something that he felt intrinsically linked to. Although, he didn't quite understand how it was important though, after all, it was just a simple set of 4 different colored lights. Red, White, Black, and Yellow. The last of his strength spent, Lan passed out in Byakko's arms.

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Thousands of miles away in a torn dead land a dark army was gathering. Grimm of every kind was coming to this land, ordering themselves into a writhing black sea. The same was happening in the skies as winged shapes flew in tight formations. Standing above them were two dark shadows that seemed to be directing the other Grimm, the shadows were human in shape and were communicating with each other. Suddenly, the shadow with the most spikes on its back twitched and turned to face the direction Lan's village was located in, sensing a familiar energy. It gave a low angry growl, discovering that its previous mission had not yet been completed. It then turned back towards the seething mass of darkness below it and let out an ear-splitting roar. The Grimm below all turned towards it. The creature then pointed in the direction and hissed. The Grimm below responded by ordering themselves into formations, and stood at attention. The two dark shadows at the top of the hill then began walking in the direction of the village, and the malignant army followed.

**Please give me all your comments and criticism on my writing. That way I can improve my prowess as a writer. ****I would also appreciate it if you could Like and follow my story, more likes and follows tend to attract more readers, and more readers mean more reviews.**


	5. Chapter 5

Ch 5 Prelude to the storm

It has been 5 months since Lan's aura was unlocked by Byakko. Recognizing the potential the boy had, Byakko began teaching Lan many aura based combat techniques as well as continuing his regular training. Thanks to the use of aura, Lan has advanced tremendously in his combat abilities, now able to take on an ursa with his bare hands. He has also excelled in many of the other skills he is learning from the villagers, although he has dropped some classes due to their uselessness in real world settings, and began focusing more time and effort on others. Ignis has also began his growth spurt and is now the size of a golden retriever, he can't spar with Lan any more however due to Lan's increased abilities (these days Lan spars with the adult wolves.) but the two have them have maintained their strong friendship and continue to interact every day. Lan has also become interested in many kinds of weapons recently and has learned how to make and use some, in fact he has dug through the libraries collections of weapon manufacturing books as well as many old magazines on the topic. He had been living every day growing and learning, but today he will receive a pleasant yet somewhat unnerving surprise.

Lan was standing in the middle of a glade, staring down Ernest the current leader of the wolves. Lan had already challenged and defeated many of the other members of the pack and had decided he was ready to challenge the leader. Byakko had decided to arrange a match between the two and now presided over the event as a judge of sorts. The glade was surrounded by the rest of the pack, howling and growling in anticipation. Byakko raised his right hand and the pack quieted down.

"Are you ready Lan?" Byakko asked Lan

"Yes sir!" Lan replied with great vigor. Byakko then turned to Ernest

"Are _you_ ready Ernest?"

Ernest responded with loud bark.

"Alright then. Fight!" Byakko said dropping his arm.

Ernest shot forwards towards Lan, leaped into the air, and dove at him like a missile. Lan shifted his stance and dodged Ernest's lunge by a few inches, then before Ernest hit the ground again, Lan brought up his fist, infused with aura, and struck the wolf in the stomach with an uppercut. Ernest was blasted backwards by the blast, but before he flew too far away from Lan he brought down one of his claws, aiming at Lan's face. Lan intercepted this blow with one of his arms, and nullified the blow with a shield of aura. Ernest flew through the air a few feet then, quickly orienting himself back into standing position, landed on his feet. Taking this time, Lan dashed forward to close the distance. Ernest was angry now, and was beginning to glow a red color. Ernest's breed of wolves are called Rage wolves, and have the ability to use aura whenever they grow angry enough, which increases their strength and speed exponentially. Using his new power, Ernest bolted forward and smashed into Lan, throwing him off balance. Then using his high speed, Ernest began using a hit and run tactic where he began tackling Lan from all directions.

"Ernest is much faster than the other wolves" Lan thought, struggling to defend himself "No wonder he's the leader".

The attacks were starting to affect Lan now, he was starting to get tired from using his aura to reduce the damage.

"Calm down" Lan thought to himself "He's too fast to follow with your eyes. Sense where he's going to be next."

Lan then spread out a thin field of aura around him, which he used to read Ernest's movements. Noticing a pattern, Lan quickly marked Ernest's route and right as the wolf was about to strike him again, Lan threw a low kick and intercepted one of Ernest's front legs. This blow threw off Ernest's balance and sent him flying head over tail onto his back a few meters away. Ernest got up again, slightly disoriented, and using this opportunity Lan dashed forward and began unloading a flurry of punches at Ernest's face, each strike infused with a measure of aura. Then Lan slammed his front most foot into the ground and used it as a pivot to throw an explosive uppercut which sent Ernest flying back a good dozen meters, and slamming into the ground. Ernest quickly got up again and turned to face Lan, he was breathing hard now, obviously damaged from the previous volley.

"What do you say we finish this?" Lan said smiling "We don't have all day".

Lan then began channeling most of his aura into his hands, foregoing any form of defense and preparing for a heavy blow. Ernest growled he wasn't going to let this pup make fun of him; he would take the challenge head on. Ernest began to gather his aura to the front of his body, his fangs beginning to glow a bright red color. The two stared at each other in silence for two moments. Lan then shifted himself into a punching stance as if about to throw smash. Taking the movement as provocation, Ernerst launched himself forward, his aura streaming around him, looking almost like a meteorite. Then, just as the two were about to collide, instead of throwing a punch, Lan launched his arm backwards in an ark, bringing the tips of his fingers close to the ground, and then he brought up his aura enforced palm and struck Ernest from below. This technique struck Ernest's field of energy and redirected the force upwards, throwing Ernest off balance and canceling his attack. Then using the momentum of the blow, Lan stepped in, turned around and placed his back against Ernest's chest. Lan then channeled all of his aura that was in his hands into his back, and thrust his back forward releasing his aura as well. This produced a massive shockwave which blasted Ernest all the way to the other end of the glade where he crashed into a tree, and fell down, completely still.

Byakko leapt from where he was sitting and was by Ernest's side in less than a second.

"He's still breathing" Byakko said after a few minutes of diagnosis "But I'll need to heal him a little bit"

Byakko then started glowing white and touched Ernest's hide. The light flowed from the point of contact and spread all over Ernest's body, healing whatever wounds it encountered. Byakko then turned back to look at Lan.

"Congratulations boy, you're the winner!"

"Woohoo" Lan wheezed, extremely tired, he then fell down onto his back, his arms and legs spread far apart.

"I…Think I need to rest a little while" Lan said weakly "That last attack really took a lot out of me".

"You have to be more careful with how much aura you use" Byakko replied "how you ration it could be the key to victory or defeat. Also, don't get swollen head just cause you beat Ernest. Wolves are a _million_ times stronger when they attack in a pack!"

"But that was an interesting move the kid used" Byakko thought, turning back to Ernest "I never taught him that one, and he seemed to use it so naturally. I guess that's his natural fighting style then."

Byakko then started to think about any one of his friends that used that type of style who could possibly teach the boy. After a few minutes, still no one had come to mind though.

"Oh well" Byakko thought, standing up "I'll think about it later".

With a happy yipping sound Ignis leapt out of the now dispersing group of wolves and ran over to Lan.

"Hey buddy look I wo-" before Lan could finish Ignis proceeded to cover him in a layer of saliva and then started to hump his leg.

"Agh!" Lan exclaimed, struggling "cut that out boy, I'm tired."

"Alright Lan" Byakko said chuckling "time to head back to the village."

"Alright" Lan said, finally prying Ignis off his leg and standing up "Let's go"

The two of them then headed back to the village with Ignis barking his goodbyes.

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"So how are your cooking skills coming?"

Byakko inquired as the two of them neared the village.

"Pretty good" Lan replied "Grandma says that I'm starting to become as good as a three-star chef now and—".

Lan fell silent as they entered the village. The villagers were currently crowded in the center square yammering about something. Lan and Byakko dashed over to see what was going on.

"Lan, Byakko!" Anna cried as she saw them "You're Here!"

"What's going on?" Lan inquired.

"A few hours after you two left for training a young boy wandered into the village" Anna replied "he was bleeding all over, one of his arms was broken, and the other was just a stump. He kept murmuring something about doom, and when one of the villagers went to help him he passed out in his arms."

"Well, where is he now?" Lan asked.

"He's in doctor Krueger's home at the north of the village, but I don't suggest you go yet, he's currently in the operating room."

"Okay" Lan said reluctantly.

"Now don't you worry" Byakko said, patting Lan on the back, "You know how good of a doctor Krueger is, he's a miracle worker who can fix almost anything. Now come on, you got lessons now. We'll tell you as soon as the kid wakes up."

Lan nodded then headed to Rowan's for his engineering lesson.

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A few hours later, Lan was reading in the library when he heard that the boy had come to. He quickly headed for doctor Krueger's home where a large crowd had already gathered. The crowd parted for him as he approached and then entered Dr. Krueger's home. Krueger's home was a mixture of a medical center and a normal home, with one half of the house containing his living quarters and the other half containing medical rooms and storage chambers. Lan walked into the living quarters and headed upstairs to the recovery room. When he entered the room, he saw Krueger sleeping in a chair at one end of the room and the boy in bed at the other end. The boy appeared to be a squirrel Faunus, due to his large front teeth, oddly shaped eyebrows, brown hair, and a large poofy tail that was poking out of the sheets. He was currently wearing a white patient's shirt, had a pair of large pair spectacles sitting on his face, was bandaged in many places, and had his remaining arm fit in a cast. He also appeared to be around Lan's age. He was currently being fed pasta made with a special nut sauce, by Anna who was also asking him various questions.

"How's the patient doing?" Lan asked, stepping into the room.

"He's seems to be doing well now" Anna replied, turning to face Lan.

"He's got his appetite back and can start talking again."

The boy turned to look at Lan and gave him a weak smile.

"How's it going" Lan said "What's your name?"

The boy's smile vanished and a confused, desperate look took its place.

"The boy doesn't seem to remember anything" Anna said sighing "It seems the shock of whatever happened to him has given him amnesia. We can only hope his memory comes back soon."

Lan walked over to the boy, looked him in the eyes and smiled.

"Take all the time you need buddy" he said "we've got all the time in the world."

The boy gave a tentative nod; he then gave a big yawn and snuggled into the blankets.

"It seems the boy needs more rest" Anna said, getting up "come on Lan let's not—".

A banging, crashing sound came from the front door, and was followed by a loud stomping noise. The door to the room flew open and slammed onto the wall with a loud crash. Byakko stood there, his usual giant grin situated on his face

"Hey!" he yelled out "I heard the kid woke up. How's the little guy doing?"

Not yet mentally stable, the boy was in no way prepared for the giant muscular man's barging into the room.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" the boy screamed. He then dove beneath his covers where he continued screaming and began crying.

"Oh, now look what you've done you brute!" Anna said angrily "You've gone and scared the boy!"

"What?" Byakko said indignantly "That's nonsense, how am I scary?"

Lan could have pointed out many scary things about his grandfather including his scars, intense face, and harsh voice. But contented himself with giving his grandfather an uncomfortable blank stare. Ignoring it, Byakko walked over to the bed, whipped off the blanket, and picked up the sobbing boy.

"Quit crying already!" Byakko yelled, which only triggered the boy to cry even louder.

"Put him down Byakko!" Anna yelled "You're not calming him down; you're just making it worse!" Ignoring her Byakko began bombarding the boy with questions, all of which triggered the boy to cry even more.

"Oh for the love of, you can't even remember you're damn na—".

Byakko was cut off as Anna struck him over the head with a steel washbasin she had found nearby. The impact made a large dent in the basin and finally shut Byakko up.

"Agh" Byakko said, rubbing his head with his free hand "What the heck did you do that f—" he was interrupted as Anna began bashing him over and over again, the sound resonating through the room like a percussion ensemble.

"Gah, alright alright, I'll leave".

Byakko then put the boy down and dashed out of the room, leaving the house with a slam of the door. Anna sighed, and then turned to comfort the boy who was now whimpering and curled into a fetal position.

"Lan, dear, wake up doctor Krueger, we may need him to dispense some calming medicine". She said, petting the young boy.

Lan walked over to him and was amazed that to find that Dr. Krueger had been able to sleep through all that ruckus, but on closer inspection Lan discovered that the old man had earplugs on. Lan carefully removed them, then proceeded to gently shake the doctor awake.

"Huh? Wha?" Doctor Kruger said, yawning and stretching "What's going on?"

"Anna needs your help calming the kid down" Lan replied "Byakko just came in and riled him all up."

"Ah" Dr. Krueger said, awareness returning to his eyes "Give me a minute while I go grab some tranquilizer".

Dr. Krueger walked over to a cabinet, rummaged around for a few minutes, and came back holding a small green pill. By this time the boy had calmed slightly, but was still slightly shaky and was cuddling Anna while she patted his head and hummed.

"Here boy" Dr. Krueger said, holding out the pill "This will help you calm down".

The boy eyed the pill for a few seconds, then slowly reached out a trembling hand, grabbed it, brought it up to his mouth, and swallowed it. After a few minutes his trembling stopped, and the fear disappeared from his eyes.

He then looked up at Anna and said with a timid voice "I th-think I re-membered my na-me".

"Ah" Lan thought "The shock Byakko gave him must have triggered some memory recovery."

"Well" Lan said approaching the boy "What is it?"

"S-Sammy" the boy said timidly"

"Hmm, Sammy the squirrel boy, that's got a nice ring to it" Lan said jokingly.

Sammy blushed, and then proceeded to crawl under his blankets.

"Now, Lan" Anna said with a huff "Don't tease the boy".

Dr. Krueger approached Sammy lifted up the quilt and looked him in the eye.

"Do you remember anything else about what happened to you?" he said with an intense stare "The kinds of injuries you sustained only happen in the worst of situations".

"N-no" Sammy said looking down "I-I d-don't r-remember anything else …except…except"

The boy began trembling again and clutched his shoulders, "Shadow" he whimpered "monster….. Monster!" he screamed, he then began thrashing around and screaming more. Anna rushed over to try and comfort him, but he slapped her hand away and continued to scream.

With a deft movement, Krueger pulled out a needle and stuck it into the side of the boy's neck. The boy instantly relaxed and fell onto the bed.

"Krueger!" Anna said, appalled, "How could you do that to such a young boy?"

"Relax Anna" Kruger said, removing the needle "He's just asleep, I just hit an acupuncture point that causes the brain to mass produce melatonin which—".

Ignoring him Anna knelt down beside the boy and began checking him, after a few minutes she stood up with a relieved look on her face.

"Let's be going now Lan" she said turning to face him "before something else crazy happens."

She then tucked Sammy in and walked out of the room. Lan turned to follow, but paused and turned around.

"Hey Dr. Krueger?" Lan asked "Can you teach me that acupuncture stuff in our next lesson?"

Dr. Krueger smiled and nodded. With that, Lan skipped out of the room and headed back towards the library. Once he was alone Dr. Krueger began analyzing the boy's words, monster and doom. There was only one thing that was generically related to those words.

"The boy must have had a run in with the creatures of Grimm," He thought, stroking his white goatee "but for him to have made it here he must have been attacked nearby."

The nearest settlement was a Faunus village more than 30 miles away, the boy could have come from there. But the village had capable warriors who had been able to keep the village safe for years.

"Something must be different about the Grimm that attacked them" Dr. Krueger thought, "I just hope we don't have run in with them".

Dr. Krueger, then stood up, checked to make sure that Sammy was okay, and then left the room.

"It'll be fine as long as Byakko is here" he thought "nothing can take that old coot down".

Feeling reassured, Dr. Krueger headed to his bedroom for a nice long nap.

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The two dark shadows stood at the top of a mountain staring down at the village of Cunctantem Cinere, their army was in a low valley behind them, awaiting their orders. It had been a long six month trek to get to this location, and along the way they had erased any signs of man that they came across, from convoys, to small villages. Their most recent raid had been on a Faunus village, the warriors there had put up a decent fight when they fought against the normal Grimm, but once the humanoid Grimm joined the fray, they were defeated in seconds. Afterwards, they had destroyed the village and killed every Faunus they could find; only one had escaped, a young boy who had been escorted by one of the warriors. The Grimm found them of course, wounded the child, and killed the warrior who held the Grimm back long enough for the boy to escape. And now they had found him again, together with their quarry. The Grimm with the single spike in its chest turned to rally the other Grimm, but was suddenly stopped by the other humanoid Grimm. The Grimm felt great power emanating from the village, power that gave the impression brilliant white beast, power that felt as ancient as the ground they stood upon. If they attacked now they would easily be defeated by that being. But they had time to spare, the being would have to leave the boy eventually, and at that point they would strike. They had plenty of time to spare as well; after all, they were beings of darkness whose only purpose was to return mankind to the dust. For that purpose, they had to get rid of that boy no matter what, and would wait for their chance, no matter how long it would take.

Back in the village Byakko sneezed, and gazed over his shoulder at the nearby mountains, feeling as though something was amiss, but quickly brushed it off as pickled fish he ate this morning. He was starting to understand Lan's fighting style and natural talents better and knew that his fighting style wasn't right for the boy. He was currently going through a list of his old friends, trying to find the perfect teacher for Lan. After he decided on who it would be, he planned to leave the village for a short time and convince him to teach the boy.

"I've got to make sure the kid's got a bright future" Byakko mumbled, and continued going down the list of names, clueless as to what his leaving would bring.


	6. Chapter 6

Ch 6 It begins

1 month later.

Sammy was running through the forest, breathing hard. It was on his tail and gaining fast, he could hear its feet stomping on the ground less than a dozen yards away. He began zigzagging around tress and running a confusing pattern, hoping to throw it off of his trail. After a few minutes the stomping disappeared. Sammy continued running for a few more minutes and then stopped once he entered a clearing. He then doubled over, wheezing and trying to catch his breath.

"I finally lost him" he thought "no way he'll find me no—"

At that moment a dark shape leapt out of the bushes to his right and tackled him. Sammy screamed in fright and brought up his hands to protect his face. But the beast pushed its snout through, brought its mouth close to Sammy…. And began to lick his face.

"Okay, okay" Sammy said laughing "You caught me Ignis, now I'm it."

The small wolf hound yipped with satisfaction, and then dashed off into the undergrowth once again. Sammy got up shaking his head and then proceeded to brush off his bushy tail.

"Hey Sammy!" someone shouted "over here!"

Sammy jumped in surprise and turned to look up into tree where the voice had come from. Standing there was Lan, with a smug look on his face. The two of them, along with the local wolf pack, were currently playing a game of tag.

Thanks to Dr. Krueger's ingenious medical techniques, Sammy had fully recovered only two weeks after he was checked in. Afterwards, Rowan had made Sammy a special mechanical arm that was filled with many gadgets and tricks, although not as many as Rowan wanted, because the other villagers didn't want Sammy's arm to be a ticking time bomb (both literally and metaphorically). Sammy and Lan had become fast friends, since they were the only children in the village and now spent many afternoons playing together. Sammy currently had on an earth-brown t-shirt, a pair of tan shorts with a hole in it for his tail, and orange sandals. Lan was wearing a custom black karate gi that looked ripped in a few places and was given to him by Byakko, and as always Lan wore no shoes.

"You really suck at this" Lan said in a teasing manner "Everybody else can outrun Ignis".

"Shut up!" Sammy yelled back "I may not be as fit as you guys are, but I can more than make up for it with this!"

Pressing a button on his prosthetic arm, Sammy fired the hand of his fake arm, which was connected to the rest of his arm with a thick wire, at the branch Lan was standing on. Lan jumped out of the way as the hand grabbed onto the tree branch, and leapt onto another one. Sammy then pressed another button on his arm, which reeled in the wire and pulled him towards the branch. After he scrambled onto it, stood up, and turned to face Lan.

"nah nah nah nah nah" Lan shouted, making a mocking gesture with his hands. He then took off, jumping from tree limb to tree limb faster than a monkey. Sammy began chasing after him with his grappling arm. The two of them flew through the forest, zipping by at high speeds. Sammy's natural squirrel like instincts allowed him to move through the trees with high levels of precision, but no matter how hard he tried, he could never catch up to Lan.

"Come on Sammy" Lan shouted behind him "I thought squirrels were supposed to master tree maneuverers."

"I am" Sammy shouted back "You're just too fast, I can't catch a ninja boy like you!"

"Martial artist" Lan corrected.

After a few more minutes of trying to catch him, Sammy knew he would never catch up at this rate.

"Try using your brain a little more" Sammy thought to himself, "if you can't catch him with physical ability try something else."

Sammy thought for a moment, and then suddenly came up with a plan. He pretended to detect a scent in the air by sniffing.

"Hey Lan" Sammy yelled "It smells like dinner's ready!"

"Really?" Lan said checking his watch "That was fast, Let's go".

Lan jumped down from the tree onto the ground, and began running back towards the village.

Dropping on the ground, Sammy began running after Lan, who was currently traveling slower than how he was when he was zipping through the trees. Once he was close enough, Sammy pressed a button on his arm which activated a propulsion system (Rowan added it in secret and only told Sammy about it) which launched him towards Lan at a tremendous speed.

"Gotcha now" Sammy thought while he stretched out his arm.

Just as Sammy was about to tag him, Lan suddenly jumped to the side. Unable to stop his momentum, Sammy shot past, crashed into a tree, and landed on his back.

"Wow" Lan said "when did you get a rocket booster?"

"How did you know what I was going to do?" Sammy shouted from the ground

Lan smiled and tapped his nose.

"Grandpa trains **every** part of me" Lan said "right now my nose is about as sensitive as the average Faunus, and I didn't smell any food, so it was pretty obvious you were trying to trick me."

"How do you train your sense of smell?" Sammy said getting up "It's not a muscle."

"By smelling lots of different things" Lan responded "Some pleasant…others not so much".

At that moment they heard a lard clanging sound coming from the direction of the village.

"_Now_, the food is done" Lan said, smiling and darted off towards the village.

"Hey wait for me!" Sammy yelled, staggering to his feet and taking off after him.

It was dinnertime now, and they had to get there fast before Byakko ate everything.

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Anna's restaurant was packed. Almost everyone in the village tries to eat at Anna's house whenever there were seats available. However, there were always a few seats reserved for her close personal friends, which included Byakko and the two boys. Today, however, one of the seats was empty. Lan had decided to help Anna deal with the dinner rush.

"Order up" Lan shouted, placing two bowls of soba in front of two guests "two venison soba!"

He then darted back into the kitchen with lightning speed to continue helping Anna cook and serve.

"He sure is moving fast" said Sammy, who was sitting next to Rowan.

"The kids been learning from Anna since the day he got here" Rowan responded with a shrug "he pretty much knows all the ins and outs of the kitchen. What's more surprising is that over there."

He pointed towards a table in the back of the room. Sitting at it was Byakko….hunched over a book and writing things down.

"In the twelve years that he's been at this village, I have never once seen him open up a book, let alone write something down" Rowan said, slightly perturbed "Something is wrong, very very wrong."

At that moment Lan burst out of the kitchen, laden down with over a dozen dishes. He then dashed to various parts of the room, dropping off the plates in front of their respective diners with amazing speed and not dropping even a speck of food. The last person on his route was Byakko, and as soon as he set down Byakko's whole roast boar he turned to dash back into the kitchen.

"Hold on a sec boy" Byakko said, his hand shooting out and grabbing the back of scruff of Lan's neck "I need you to look at something".

When Lan didn't respond Byakko looked up from his papers and saw that with the way he had grabbed Lan's collar, he had begun strangling him.

"_Brain…growing…fuzzy" _Lan thought as he struggled, trying to get free "_Must…have…air!_"

"Oops" Byakko said, releasing his grip "Sorry about that, but man your new gi must be made of some strong material."

Lan dropped to his knees and gasped for breath and then turned to look up at his grandpa.

"What "pant" do you need?" Lan said his voice hoarse.

Byakko took a small piece of paper from his desk and some photos out of his clothes.

"As both of us know" Byakko said in a serious voice "My fighting style isn't suited to your natural abilities. So I am currently deciding which of my old friends would be the best teacher for you."

Lan's eyes widened in alarm.

"Does this mean you aren't going to train me anymore grandpa?"

"Of course I am" Byakko shouted back "I'm still going to be in charge of your body strengthening training. It's just that one of these guys" Byakko said, patting the pictures with the back of his hand "is going to teach you skills and techniques!"

Lan sighed in relief, then looked up with interest at the photos Byakko held in his hand.

"Now I've narrowed it down to these guys, they're all top grade martial arts masters and were able to give me some difficulty back in the day" Byakko said handing Lan the pictures and note "take your pick".

Lan read each of the master's descriptions and fighting styles carefully styles carefully. But before he had gone through them all, one strange picture caught his eye.

"Hey grandpa what's thi—"

"Oops, sorry" Byakko said, snatching up the picture "That's a picture Johnny, the pet hippo of one of my old friends. I don't know how that got in there."

Shaking his head, Lan returned to looking at the profiles. After a few minutes he had decided and handed the selected photo to Byakko.

"Ah, good choice boy" Byakko said as he looked at the picture "Meng Zhang is probably the best out of all the guys in that pile and is the one I chose to have teach you."

"Chose?" Lan said confused "I thought I was supposed to pick"

"No" Byakko said with a mischievous smile "I just wanted to see if you knew which kind of teacher was the best for you, and if you had gotten it wrong I would have head-butted you so hard that you wouldn't even remember this conversation, then I would have repeated the process until you got it right!"

Turning away from Lan, whose mouth was currently hanging open, Byakko scribbled something down on a note next to him. He then turned his attention to the boar and began devouring it.

"Lan!" Anna called from the kitchen "where are you?"

Snapping out of his shock, Lan ran back to the kitchen and shouted "Sorry grandma" as he burst through the door.

¾ done with his boar, Byakko began to make travel plans. Now that Lan's new teacher was settled, he would have to go and convince the old coot to come train Lan. Byakko began planning for the supplies he would need to bring. Byakko looked down, and noticed that his plate was already empty. He then got up and headed for the kitchen too place some more orders, he (as always) would need his strength for the days ahead.

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Three days later

Byakko was standing at the exit of the village with an enormous backpack slung over his shoulders, as well as a black travel cloak. The other villagers had gathered to wish him a safe journey, Lan was standing at the head of the group, his face scrunched up and trying not to cry.

"Alright guys" Byakko yelled "I'll probably be gone a week or two, and in that time you'll need to keep the village safe. I've gathered tons of dust from natural deposits in the area and piled them by the force field generator. There should be enough to keep you all safe for months."

Anna walked over and handed Byakko a jar of seasoning.

"I know you'll be missing my cooking while you're gone" Anna said with a smile "so just sprinkle a little of this onto any meat that you roast and you'll have something worthy of a 5-star meal."

"Thanks" Byakko said, stuffing it into his pocket.

Byakko then knelt down and stared Lan in the eyes.

"Don't' give me that look boy" Byakko said, noting Lan's scrunched up face "Tears just make goodbye's painful, and also, I'll only be gone a few weeks at the most. I'll be back before you know it, so suck those tears back into the ducts and give your grandpa a big goodbye hug".

Lan nodded and, with notable effort and amazing bodily control, sucked his tears back into his ducts like he had been instructed to. He then leapt off the ground and wrapped his arms around Byakko's neck. Byakko smiled and returned the gesture.

"Make sure you keep up your training while I'm gone" he said "I've written it all down in that scroll I gave you."

"You mean those bunches of scribbles?" Lan said giggling.

"Wha-What" Byakko said with indignation "that is perfectly legible handwriting."

"It's okay" Lan said, releasing his grip "I've already learned how to read that foreign language.

Everyone laughed at this comment, except Byakko who was giving his grandson the death glare.

"Alright everyone, it's time for me to get going" Byakko said, getting up "anything anyone else want to say before I go?"

"Remember to shower regularly" said Anna

"And don't get wasted in any taverns!" shouted Gregory

"All right, that's enough" Byakko said, brushing off the rest of the comments "See ya."

With that he turned around and began marching away from the village.

"Fare thee well" Lan yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth "Come back soon."

Within a few minutes, he was just a speck in the distance and the crowd at the front gate began to disperse.

"Alright Lan" Anna said taking him by the hand "Your music lesson with Edgar is about to begin"

Lan nodded and followed her back to the village, but stopped when he noticed Sammy was still standing by the front gate.

"Sammy!" he called out "Time to head back."

When the boy refused to move, Lan ran over and began tapping him on the shoulder. Sammy yelped, shook his head, and turned to look at Lan.

"Whuh-What is it." Sammy said in a sluggish voice

"You okay buddy" Lan asked, slightly concerned

"Ye-Yeah" Sammy said "just spaced out for sec."

"Well, come on, we got to turn on the force-field generator soon" Lan said

Lan turned around and dashed into the village. Sammy began to follow him, but turned his head to look behind him at the nearby mountain range. He had felt familiar presence in that direction, but he couldn't remember where.

"It's probably nothing" he thought, shrugging his shoulders "It's probably my scrambled brain messing with me again." He then ran after Lan into the village, to watch as they turned the generator on.

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Two dark shadows lie asleep at the top of the mountain. All of a sudden one of them shot up, and stared in the direction of the village. It gave the other shadow a kick to wake it, and then leapt into the valley below to rouse the rest of the Grimm. Their time had come sooner than expected, the powerful white being was now leaving, and now the village was left vulnerable. But they couldn't make any rash moves; anything too flashy could cause the being to come running back to the village. The dark creature decided it would lead a small strike force of around 50 Grimm through the nearby woods to attack the seaside village in a few hours after the being was far enough way, they could wait longer, but they had grown impatient over the month. The creatures of Grimm live only to return mankind to the dust, and after waiting here for a month doing nothing they were hungry for blood, and after they finished off the boy they would continue with their previous plan, the original reason all of them had gathered together: to attack one of the kingdoms of man, the city of Vale.

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1 day later

Lan was sitting on a cliff overlooking the sea, and was watching the sun as it began to sun under the waves; however it wasn't as beautiful with the force-field obscuring the view.

"It's not as lively here without grandpa" Lan said sighing "even a day without him is pretty depressing."

He had finished that day's training regime (three times over actually), finished his lessons with everybody, Sammy was undergoing a checkup at Krueger's, and the library had just been closed. So, now he had nothing to do. Plopping down onto his back, he yawned and began to daydream about the moves he would learn once Byakko came back.

"HEY LAN HOW'S IT GOING!?"

Lan jumped to his feet in surprise and turned to face the direction the voice came from. Standing there was Sammy, holding fresh seafood, rice, cooking utensils, and a menagerie of sauces.

"Sammy!" Lan yelled "you scared the crap outta me!"

"Sorry" Sammy giggled "I just couldn't resist"

"What's all that fish for" Lan inquired, noticing the bounty in Sammy's arms.

"Oh um, these?" Sammy said, turning red "It's just that well… I really enjoyed the sushi Anna made a few days ago and seeing as she doesn't have time right now, I was hoping you could…"

"Say no more my furry friend" Lan said, then in the blink of an eye changed into an itamae chef uniform. "Now my friend, would you prefer Ika, Ebi, or maybe some Uni"

Sammy set down a clean cutting board/table, and Lan got to work preparing the delicious aquatic delicacies. The two boys enjoyed many different rolls and nigiri, but stopped once Lan pulled out his greatest foe.

"Ah, fugu" Lan said, eyeing the puffer fish "I have not yet reached its level in cooking class but…how hard could it be?"

He brought to memory the location of the poisonous organs, than began to cut away at the fish. Within a few minutes he was finished, and placed the sashimi onto a plate. He then looked at Sammy.

"You ready buddy?" Lan asked

"I guess so." Sammy responded timidly

They both picked up one of the pieces of sashimi and brought it to their mouths. At that a loud crashing sound, followed by a menagerie of bestial noises filled the air. The two boys dropped the fish in surprise, and turned to look upwards at the now pulsating force-field. The both of them then got up and ran in the direction of the village square. Upon arriving they found the majority of the village's denizens there with Hiroshi at the center directing them.

"What's going on!?" Lan yelled

"There are Grimm at the edge of the village" Gregory responded "I'd wager around 50 of them, but don't you kids worry, the force-field's got enough dust in it to last us through weeks of this. So we'll be fine."

"But just in case" Hiroshi said, walking over to the boys "I want you two to head to the safe house along with all the other noncombatants until the Grimm leave, the rest of us will prepare a perimeter in the off chance they break through."

"Oh come off it" Gregory said, patting Hiroshi on the back "We all know they'll never get through."

With lightning fast reflexes, Hiroshi grabbed Gregory's hand and then turned to stare him straight in the eye.

"Never underestimate your opponent" Hiroshi said with intensity "I learned that lesson the hard way in the past."

Gregory, put off by Hiroshi's words, nodded slowly, and after Hiroshi released his grip, he started heading in the direction of the safe house.

"Come on kids" he said in a slightly shaky voice "up and at em"

Sammy, visibly frightened by the situation, turned and ran after Gregory, determined to get as far away from the Grimm as possible. Lan, however, stayed where he was and looked Hiroshi in the eyes with a determined stare.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Lan said his voice steady and calm "I am ready and waiting."

Hiroshi smiled as he looked down at the young boy and then reached out and patted his head.

"The best thing you can do for us is to head to the Safe house; we wouldn't want anything to happen to you." Hiroshi replied.

"But I can be of assistance!" Lan complained "We all know that I'm strong."

"Yes we do" Hiroshi said, removing his hand "But you've got to leave this to us old people, If we just rely on you kids all the time we'll become useless old farts in no time flat. Besides, it is our duty to protect the dreams of the younger generation, and if we fail to do that, well…there wouldn't have been any point in us doing anything. Now hurry along Lan, we need to get to work."

Lan stood there, holding Hiroshi's gaze for a few minutes, then nodded and ran off in the direction of the safe house.

Hiroshi watched as the boy ran away, and then turned his attention to the edge of the village where the Grimm were attacking. Usually he wasn't worried when this kind of thing happened; the force field was usually strong enough to stave off anything they could throw. But today, he felt a mound of uneasiness building up in his stomach. Something was different today, and he knew that things wouldn't be going as planned. He called out to the combat-able villagers to begin arming themselves, and then he walked back to his home to retrieve his twin katana.

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Lan was watching from afar as the other villagers began to form up at the end of the town where the Grimm were attacking. He hands were clenched, and his body trembling with excitement. He wanted to get over there and help everybody defend the village. But he had promised Hiroshi that he would head to the safe house and, as the many stories he had read had advised him, it was never a good idea to break your word. Lan sighed and turned in the direction of the safe house once again, but something outside the barrier near him caught his eye.

Standing there at the edge of the forest was an old man with a bald head and a long white beard. He was wearing what appeared to be a monastery monk's robes. Lan didn't recognize the man, but he felt strangely familiar.

"Hey!" Lan yelled "come inside the force-field, it doesn't stop people from going in or out"

When the man refused to move, Lan gave a nervous glance in the direction of the Grimm and shouted out once again.

"There are Grimm nearby, it's dangerous out there!"

The old man stared at Lan for a solid minute, and then he lifted up his arm and began beckoning for Lan to follow him.

"What!?" Lan said, confused "Why should I go out—"

Before Lan had finished speaking, the old man turned around and walked into the forest. Dumbstruck, Lan began calling out to the old man, but to no avail. He turned around and stared in both the directions of the safe house and the location where the Grimm were attacking.

"I promised Hiroshi that I would head to the safe house" Lan thought, starting to grow desperate "But I can't just leave an old man outside."

Torn between the two decisions, Lan tried to think of the best way to handle the situation and after a few moments of debate, made up his mind.

"Promises are important" he thought to himself "but protecting other's lives takes first priority."

His resolve now firm, Lan dashed out of the barrier and headed in the direction the old man had disappeared in, determined to bring him into the barrier either peacefully or with force.

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Hiroshi stared at the pulsating barrier, where the grim were slashing, striking, and ramming it. The barrier stood firm against all of the blows, giving no sign of weakening.

"Maybe my instincts are dulling" Hiroshi thought, sighing "it really is obvious that they won't get through".

He turned around and started to give the command for the group to disperse and return to their homes.

A loud, harsh, new cry ripped through the air, coming from the direction of the Grimm. Shocked out of his tranquil composure, Hiroshi whipped round, and was struck dumb by what he saw. Standing at the barrier was a humanoid Grimm with 5 reddish crystals sticking out of its back.

"What in the world?" Hiroshi said, quickly recovering senses.

All of a sudden, reddish-black energy began coursing around the creature and began to gather at one of its clawed hands. The beast then raised its arm and brought it down on the force field where the two energies collided. A blinding light erupted from the point of impact, sparks of energy flying off in all directions. Hiroshi quickly shielded his eyes from the radiance, than as his eyes grew more accustomed to it, moved his hand slightly out of the way so he could see what was happening.

Cracks were beginning to form in the force-field, branching out from the epicenter of the impact.

"Hiroshi" someone called from behind him "there's something wrong with the generator".

Hiroshi whipped around and saw that energy was shooting off from the center of the village where the generator was located. Quickly analyzing the situation, Hiroshi realized what was about to happen.

"Get away from the generator!" he cried "It's going to blow!"

The militia members who were most near it began to run away, forcing all their strength into their legs to ferry them to safety. But it was to no avail. In a flash of multi-colored light, the generator blasted apart, releasing devastating energy around it, sending many flying. Those closest to it weren't so lucky, however. The energy caught them in its embrace and sucked them into the light, and once the light faded all that was left of them were blackened corpses.

Hiroshi stared at the chaos, his eyes filled with grief. So many of the men and women he had lived with and loved had their lives snuffed out in the blink of an eye. He dropped his head down, shocked by this turn of events. But then, with dread filling inside of him, he realized the dire situation they were all in. He turned around and saw the Grimm standing only a few dozen yards away from them, all their eyes hungry for blood.

Quickly gathering his wits, Hiroshi called out to the other members of the village militia to get into battle positions. He pulled out his two katana, and shifted himself into a combat stance. The other more quick witted of the village followed suit. Rowan jumped into the cock pit of a large robot and activated it, Anna pulled out two clubs from inside her dress and struck a martial arts pose, Edgar pulled out a conductor's baton that hummed to life with dust energy, and others quickly pulled out their weapons and entered into combat stances.

The two forces stood silently, staring each other down. Then, screaming at the top of their lungs, the two groups ran at each other and the battle began.

**I want to become a better writer, so please give me any comments, criticism, or suggestions you have. ****I would also appreciate it if you could Like and follow my story, more likes and follows tend to attract more readers, and more readers mean more reviews.**


	7. Chapter 7

Ch7 Old friends

"Wait up" Lan yelled, "you need to get back to the village!"

He was running through the forest, trying to catch up to the old man that he saw. Every once in a while he caught sight of the old man again, but never got close enough to grab him.

"What is he even doing out here?" he thought "I never saw him before so I don't think he's a member of this village".

After running for little while longer, he burst into a clearing. The old man was sitting on a log in the middle of it and as soon as Lan entered he lifted up his head and looked at the boy.

"Ahah" Lan cried in triumph "I got ya now. Now let's get back to the village old man, it's not safe out here."

When the old man still didn't move, Lan grew annoyed and began to walk towards him.

"Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Either you can calmly follow me or I'll drag you to safety!"

Suddenly the old man began laughing; it was a manic and uncontrolled laughter that made Lan's hair's stand up on end. The old man then got off the stump and began walking towards Lan.

"Ah, finally" Lan said with relief "hurry up we don't know what may be lurking—"

He stopped talking as he noticed a reddish-black glow appear on the man's chest. Then with a ripping sound, a reddish-black crystal burst forth form the man's robes. Darkness began seeping from the crystal, winding around the man and spreading out to cover him in its umbral embrace. A few seconds later the man was gone, and standing there was a humanoid Grimm that appeared to smile at Lan, its eyes filled with a sadistic gleam.

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Hiroshi dodged to the left as an ursa brought its paw down where he had formerly been standing. He then leapt off the ground towards the ursa and brought his left and right blade up and down respectively, decapitating the creature. He turned around to survey the rest pf the battle and saw that they were pushing the Grimm back. Anna was sending any small sized Grimm flying with a whack of her clubs, each blow strong enough to cave a skull in. Rowan was currently going mano a mano with a deathstalker, his robot's arms trapping the deathstalker's claws and his artillery blasting away at the creature's head and stinger. Edgar was writing musical scores in the air with his conductor's baton which either resulted in a magic based attack, a beneficial buff to a group of allies, or a detrimental effect on a group of Grimm. His morale raised, Hiroshi dove into a group of beowolves and began slicing them apart using his fluid sword style, the thrill of battle filling him and the taste of victory sweet in his mouth. But then he noticed something odd. The humanoid Grimm that had destroyed the barrier was hadn't joined the battle and instead was just watching as the melee unfolded before it. Hiroshi had been certain that the creature would join its constituents in battle. It was definitely the most dangerous though; an army of Grimm couldn't have done what it did to the barrier.

"Perhaps the attack has left it weak" Hiroshi thought "If that's the case then this is our chance to kill it."

There weren't many other Grimm now; they had destroyed almost all of them at this point. Hiroshi turned around and yelled at the other warriors to gain their attention; he then pointed in the direction of the Grimm and ordered an assault. The militia responded with a passionate war cry and the nearest group ran at the creature, their weapons raised.

It was over in an instant. The creature seemed to vanish for a split second, and then reappeared behind the group. Confused, the warriors turned round to face it…and fell to pieces, dead before they even knew what happened to them. Hiroshi was struck dumb. All of those warriors had combat experience and adept control of their aura. How had it ended so quickly? The creature turned around to face him…and smiled. Hiroshi felt a chill travel down his spine. They couldn't defeat this creature, his years of experience screamed at him that this was a being far beyond their capabilities. He began to give the cry to retreat, but then Rowan began barreling towards the creature in his mech, screaming at the top of his lungs.

The creature got into a crouching position and with an explosive burst of power, launched itself towards Rowan, twisted its body into a strange angle, and then smashed through the robots legs. The machine crashed to the ground, sparks flying from its severed limbs. Rowan lay in the cockpit groaning, a line of blood flowing down from his skull. He slowly crawled out of it, pulled out a pistol, and then got to his feet.

"I won't die like this" Rowan gasped "not after all I've been through!"

"Rowan, look out!" someone yelled from far away

He heard a loud thump behind him, turned to look in the direction of the sound. What he saw was a black, clawed foot shooting at his face. It was the last thing he ever saw. The creature rammed its foot into his face and then slammed his head into the ground with a loud crunching noise. Rowan's body twitched for a few seconds and then lay still.

"Rowan!" Hiroshi yelled

Rowan and Hiroshi had been quite close; they had been friends for over twenty-five years and had been through so much together and now he was gone, crushed underneath the foot of the Grimm like an insect. But another dark feeling rested in Hiroshi's breast. With Byakko gone, Rowan and his combat mech were the village's greatest military asset, and they had been defeated in less than a minute.

"Retreat!" Hiroshi cried at the top of his lungs "Retreat!"

The militia began running back towards the village center in order to form a defensive front where they would make their final stand. Meanwhile they could load all the noncombatants in the safe houses onto the boats in the harbor. At least that way some of the villagers will survive. With that thought steeling his resolve, he turned around and began to run after the rest of the warriors.

All of a sudden a sizzling crackling sound filled the air around him. He turned around and saw the creature's crystals were glowing and transferring energy towards a black ball of energy that was forming at the creature's mouth. With a bang, a large dark sphere flew past him, missing his head by only inches. The orb flew far off into the distance, towards the ocean and disappeared from sight. A few seconds later there was an earth-shattering explosion and the horizon was filled with dark energy. A few seconds later, it was gone and Hiroshi knew that the boats had been destroyed.

"How?" he thought to himself "How did it know?"

He turned round and stared their executor in the eyes.

"Byakko" he whispered, completely overcome with despair "Where are you?"

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"Achoooo!" Byakko sneezed, "Hmmm, is someone talking about me?" he said.

Byakko was currently sitting alone in a forest clearing far away from the village. He was sitting on a log and was currently roasting a deer over a roaring fire.

"Now time for a little spice!" he said, and whipped out the bottle of spices Anna had prepared for him.

He turned it upside down to sprinkle the delicious mix onto the mix, but all of a sudden the bottle shattered and its contents were scattered into the wind. He stared down at the broken shards in his hands and narrowed his eyes. Over the course of his long life, he had grown adept at noticing and interpreting different signs, also his instincts were beginning to scream at him that something was wrong. He stood up and stared in the direction of the village. He had left just one day before, but since he had been walking the whole time, he hadn't travelled too far.

"I better head back as fast as I can" he thought, getting up. "I can probably cut the travel time in half if I travel over the mountains."

Byakko quickly packed up his belongings, slung them over his shoulders, and then dashed out of the clearing full speed. After a little while he began to near the mountains. Slamming down hard with his feet, he leapt off the ground and into the trees ahead and began using them as footholds to increase his elevation. Higher and higher did he climb, leaping through the tress faster than the eye could see until finally, he cleared the tree line and came face to face with the mountain side.

Angling his body slightly, he planted both of his feet on the face of the mountain and then began to run up the incline, speeding forwards towards the peak. It took him only a few minutes to reach it. Then, with an enormous burst of strength, he launched himself from this peak to one further away, flying hundreds of meters in one leap. He kept this up for quite some time, and after a while the village came into view.

"Alright" Byakko thought, "Almost there."

However, once he landed on the mountain top closest to the village he began to survey the area. But something quickly caught his attention before he had gotten a good look at the village. Far below him in the valley were thousands upon thousands of Grimm, a seething black ocean of malignant beasts that were milling around in the dark.

"Ohoh!" Byakko said, grinning cracking his knuckles "I guess this was the unsettling feeling I was getting. I guess they would have a lot of trouble if this many Grimm attacked the village. I guess I'll clear them out."

Despite the dire situation, Byakko planned to take his time with the Grimm below. It has, after all, been a long time since he had a decent fight. With an earth-shattering yell, Byakko leapt off the top of the mountain, descended upon the Grimm below. The beasts began roaring and shrieking when they saw him and swarmed around his landing point, wanting to tear him apart as soon as possible. But with a burst of aura, Byakko crashed into the group with the force of a meteorite, crushing the Grimm directly below him and sending the rest that were near the point of impact flying off in all directions. Byakko rose to his feet, surveyed the situation around him and smiled.

"Let the games begin!" he cried, raising his arms into the air.

He then charged into the nearest group of Grimm and began tearing them apart, yelling out bad jokes bad jokes all the while.

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Lan was standing in the center of the glade with the Grimm. He didn't know what was going on, but he did know that that thing was dangerous. He quickly switched into a martial arts stance and began to channel aura throughout his body.

"Note to self" Lan thought to himself "Never EVER break a promise."

The two stood there staring at each other for a solid minute, and then the creature smiled, appearing to laugh at the young boy who dared challenge it. This confused Lan, who had remembered reading that Grimm had no souls, and as a result no emotions. But he quickly regained his mental composure and strengthened his stance.

"The one who moves first strikes last" he remembered his grandpa saying. "If you outmatch your opponent in the test of willpower at the beginning, then the flow of the battle will be in your favor."

Remembering these words, Lan also remembered another piece of advice his grandpa had given him. If you can taunt your opponent without leaving any openings, then go ahead and do it.

Making sure to keep his composure, Lan twisted his face into a comical form and blew a raspberry at the Grimm.

With a roar the Grimm charged at Lan, its fist raised. Dodging out of the way with a graceful movement, Lan moved behind the grim and threw an aura infused punch at the back of its head. The attack barely made a dent in the creatures hardened armor; in fact the one most hurt by the attack was Lan, whose knuckles were now stinging from the pain of punching something far harder than itself. Crying out in pain, Lan pulled back his now reddened fist.

Swinging around with frightening speed, the Grimm threw a kick at Lan's face. Lan quickly responded by blocking the attack with his shoulder, but the force of the blow sent Lan flying to the other side of the clearing. Lan landed with a thud onto the grass, clutching his bruised shoulder. He rose shakily to his feet at then looked at the Grimm.

"This thing is strong, tough, and fast" he thought "this isn't going to be easy."

Lan began flowing most of his aura to the area of the wound in order to heal it, but until it recovered he wouldn't be able to attack properly. The creature roared and charged at Lan once again. Once it got close enough it began throwing a variety of different strikes, each of them a killing blow. The creatures movements resembled a form of martial arts, it wasn't nearly as refined as Byakko's or Lan's but was able to make up for the lack of skill with its heightened physical abilities. But, Lan's skill, instincts, and training allowed him to dodge every blow, albeit a few were only by a hair's breadth. This continued for a half minute, and by then Lan's arm had fully recovered. To create some distance, after he dodged the monsters next attack, Lan performed 5 consecutive back flips and then landed on the ground, his legs spread apart and his right hand touching the earth.

"Alright buddy" Lan said "My turn".

He then ran at the Grimm, dodging its attacks as they came. He then began throwing blows at specific parts of the monsters body, this time careful enough not to add too much strength and hurt himself. His plan this time round was to pierce through the monster's armor by repeatedly striking the same area over and over again. However, dodging the monster's blows while throwing an attack or two of his own proved to be a bit more difficult than he had anticipated. Every once in a while the Grimm's claws would cut him, or Lan would fail to hit the right place. So, after a little while, Lan was covered in gashes and his gi was ripped in quite a few places. But his persistence had born fruit. In the middle of the creature's abdominal region, cracks were beginning to form and judging from the look of them, one good strike would break through. Leaping back a few yards Lan pulled back his fist and infused it with a good deal of aura. He then leapt forward, his fist aimed at the creature's abs. At that moment energy began to flow out of the crystal that the creature had on its chest. The energy flowed down to the cracks in the monster's abs and in less than a second, healed them up. Unable to stop himself in time, Lan threw his punch and his fist collided with the Grimm's repaired armor. Pain shot up Lan's arms as he felt some of his knuckles break. Taking advantage of this, the Grimm threw an uppercut which hit Lan square in the jaw and sent him high into the air. Lan then plummeted down to the ground, ensnared in gravity's merciless embrace. He lay there, his brain spinning and his breath hoarse, not even able to comprehend the danger he was now in.

The creature began walking towards the boy now itching to finish him off. But at that moment a torrent of barking fell upon the glade. It seemed that their noisy battle hadn't gone unnoticed by the forest's denizens. Emerging from the trees was the pack of rage wolves, Ernest (now slightly bigger) was leading them. Once they saw Lan lying on his back, they dashed over and formed a line between him and the Grimm. Ernest began barking out orders and the pack quickly encircled the Grimm. The glade was now filled with the sound of their growling.

"Guys" Lan cried out in joy, his voice weak "How did you find us?"

Ernest turned round to look at Lan, gave him a toothy grin, and barked out a reply. Having lived with them for many years, Lan had learned how to understand what they meant even though he didn't understand what they said.

"I guess we really were noisy!" Lan said chuckling.

He could rest easy now that the local wolves were here. Although he could outclass each of them individually, if he fought them he wouldn't stand a chance. The Grimm stared at the creatures that were now surrounding it, roared and charged at the nearest wolf. At that moment it was struck from behind from a different wolf that had dashed forward as soon as it had seen the creature's back. Turning around the creature roared and began to charge, but once again was struck from behind. This continued for several minutes. Angered now, the Grimm began charging energy from the crystal in its chest, and then with a shriek, released the energy around him blasting all of the wolves around. The wolves yipped in pain as the blast hit them, but as soon as the energy dissipated they began growling and started to glow a red color.

"Bad choice" Lan said, who was currently focused of recovering "You don't want to get these guys mad."

The wolves were now shrouded in aura coating, which enhanced all of their physical abilities. Ernest gave a loud bark and the pack sprang into action. They shot forward faster than bullets and began striking the Grimm from all angles, each blow exploding with red energy. The fight currently looked like fireworks begin shot at a black target. Cracks were beginning to form in the creature's armor as it was struck again and again from all sides. Noticing this, Ernest detached from the group, started to harness his aura around him, and began to watch for the correct opening. The rest of the pack, noticing his intentions, then began aiming more of their attacks at the Grimm's legs, aiming to throw it off balance. The Grimm was visibly weakening now, and all that was left was the final blow. Two wolves shot forward at lightning speed and rammed the Grimm in the back of the legs, knocking it off balance. Seeing this, Ernest shot forward, his aura surrounding him like a meteorite, and blasted through the left side of the Grimm's abdomen. The Grimm cried out in pain and clutched at its side, and then collapsed to the ground, completely still.

The wolves howled in victory and dispersed their formation. A few of them went to check on the Grimm's corpse, while Ernest and the rest went to check on Lan.

"Great job guys" Lan said, pushing back the cold noses pocking at him "you really got hi—"

A yipping sound came in the direction of the wolves checking on the Grimm, as well as a loud slashing noise. Lan and the rest of the wolves shot round and looked in the direction of the noise. The Grimm was back on its feet, and the wolves around it were on the ground, injured and whimpering in pain.

"But the wound!" Lan thought "How can it move with that kind of—"

The crystal on the Grimm body began to glow, and in an instant energy shot forth from the crystal and gathered around the hole in the creature's abdomen and began healing the creature, new black matter emerging from where the energy touched. In seconds the light faded and the wound had vanished, as though it had never occurred.

Lan was stunned by this turn of events, amazed by the creature's regenerative powers. But a piece of advice his grandpa had told him came to mind.

"Always focus on the enemy's weaknesses. Sure, you have to watch out for their strengths if you don't want to get hurt. But in a fight it's a bit more important to know how to make your enemy lose than it is to know how to keep yourself from losing."

"The crystal," Lan shouted to the rest of the wolves "go for the crystal!"

Understanding their objective the wolves, quickly got into position again, their anger burning due to their injured comrades. But with a few of the wolves down the formation wasn't as efficient as it was before. They quickly launched into their attack pattern once again, but this time the Grimm was able to land a blow or two here and there, slowly weakening the pack. However, they were still able to keep the Grimm off balance. Ernest was standing behind the group again and charging up his aura attack, this time he knew where to strike. With a howl, Ernest charged forward once again and once he was near enough, dove off the ground, targeting the crystal. Seeing the attack coming, the Grimm knocked aside some of the wolves attacking it and brought its arms forward to meet the attack. If its arms were destroyed, it could just regrow them. The crystal was its lifeline, and it had to protect it.

Two wolves dove at the Grimm from its blind spot and chomped down on its hands and then with a burst of force, they wrenched his arms down to expose the crystal. In that instant, Ernest used his aura to put on an extra burst of speed, and barreled into a field of energy that surrounded the gem. The two energies collided together, aura vs. the crystal's power. Sparks began to fly in all directions from the point of impact. Cracks were beginning to form in the barrier, but Ernest was growing more exhausted by the second as pumped his aura into this one attack. The point of contact began to grow brighter, and in a flash of brilliant light, the winner was decided.

Ernest was blasted backwards by the pent up energy in the field, and collapsed in a heap a dozen yards away. The Grimm roared in triumph and then, noticing the wolves still latched onto his arms, slammed the two wolves together and threw them aside. The rest of the wolves were now in disarray, but they wouldn't go down without a fight, so each of them began attacking the Grimm individually now. But the Grimm was able to handle these desperate attacks relatively easily, dealing sever blows to every wolf that came near him.

Lan stood watching the whole event from a few yards away; he was fully recovered at this point. Most young boys would have despaired at this point and would have tried to run away. But Lan stood there analyzing the situation and trying to find the path to victory. He had to be quick though, the wolves were losing strength by the second, and once they were defeated it would be all over.

"Ernest's method was correct" Lan thought "to win, we must destroy that crystal, and the attack must be strong enough to break through the barrier in one blow!"

Lan knew what he had to do now and turned to Ernest.

"Get up already" Lan shouted "are you really going to be brought down just like that you pup?"

Responding to Lan's scathing comment, Ernest forced himself back onto his feet and turned to stare at the boy. Lan pointed to himself, pointed to the Grimm, pointed to Ernest and each of the wolves and then made a circling motion with his arms. A normal person wouldn't have understood this at all, but being together for two years, Lan and the wolf pack understood each other. So Ernest understood that Lan needed him to distract the Grimm. Barking understanding, Ernest then turned and howled at the pack to get them organized again, and then ran into the fray.

Planting his feet firmly into the ground, Lan began channeling the aura in his body into his right arm. Byakko had warned Lan about overusing his aura, but now wasn't the time for reservation. It was do or die. The wolves were organized once again, and even though there were fewer of them, they made up for it with their increased ferocity and desperation.

Lan had filled his right arm with as much aura as he could muster and found that he still had aura left in him.

"Can't waste my one attack" Lan thought "If I can't fit the aura into my left arm I'll send it to other place."

Lan filled his left arm with aura as well, and placed a little bit into his legs to give him an explosive dash. He was ready now and began watching for an opening.

The wolves were visibly exhausted now and were barely able to keep the Grimm off balance, many of them succumbing to wounds and falling to the ground. Noticing that Lan was ready, Ernest barked out a command to the remaining wolves. The wolves then leapt away from the Grimm and began glowing red. Before the Grimm could react, the wolves began using the multi-directional aura tackle again. The attacks were so fast that the Grimm couldn't even react; it was being hit from every direction and was struggling just to keep its balance. But then Ernest and 3 other wolves launched a synchronized attack, which struck all four of the Grimm's limbs and finally threw it off balance.

"Thanks guys" Lan thought, pulling back his arm

He then launched himself forward, exploding off the ground with a blue glow and flew through the air towards the Grimm. The Grimm saw the attack coming and tried to bring up his arms in time to block the blow, but it was too late. Lan threw his punch and connected with the barrier surrounding the crystal. The two energies collided with each, forming a storm of blue and reddish-black light where they met. Lan's arm screamed in pain as the energy from the barrier tried to force it away, put Lan pushed forward, ignoring the pain and focusing only on crushing his enemy. Cracks were beginning to appear in the energy field now, but the aura in Lan's right arm was beginning to dissipate as well.

Yelling out a war cry pushed his arm forward. The barrier exploded in a flash of blue and red light, sending the surrounding wolves flying in all directions and staggering the Grimm. Lan cried out in pain as he felt every bone in his right arm shatter, but he gritted his teeth and fixed his eyes on his opponent. Running forward with a yell, Lan raised his left arm and threw a second blow. This time his fist connected firmly with the crystal and discharged all of offensive aura he had stored in it. The Grimm was blasted backwards and slammed into a tree in the edge of the glade.

Low on aura, Lan's body couldn't take the force to the blast either, and as a result the bones in his left arm were also shattered.

Lan stood there, his breath ragged and his arms hanging uselessly at his sides. He looked up towards the Grimm, smiling, but his smile fell once he saw the Grimm start to rise. The crystal on its chest was now cracked in many places and was leaking reddish-black light, but it was still intact and the Grimm was still alive.

Lan began panicking, both of his arms were broken, and he couldn't risk damaging his legs in case he needed to run away.

"I've got to finish this!" Lan thought "But what can I use to—!"

It was then that he remembered something doctor Krueger told him.

"The hardest bone on your body is your forehead; a fist would break if it came in contact with it."

Lam knew what he had to do now. Flowing the last motes of aura to his forehead, Lan began to charge forwards towards the Grimm, who was still struggling to get up. Yelling, Lan slammed his left foot into the ground and blasted himself towards the Grimm head first. At that moment the Grimm brought its head up to see the situation…and saw a blue meteorite heading straight at it.

The Grimm struggles to get up, trying to get out of the way or at least block the blow, but it was still too exhausted by the previous attacks and could barely move.

Lan's head collided with the crystal in Grimm's chest, light shooting out in every direction.

"There's something you should always remember monster!" Lan yelled as he pushed forward "The heroes always win!"

Lan suddenly felt energy swelling up inside of him, flowing throughout his body and then heading towards his skull, filling it with power and breaking through what little energy the crystal in the Grimm's chest still possessed.

With a yell, Lan thrust his head forward and shot all the energy out. The energy burst forward, shattering the crystal in the Grimm chest, shooting right through it, and then widened, destroying a vast area of forest behind it. The Grimm stood there twitching; a fist sized hole in its chest, behind it was a path of destruction, the forest torn apart.

Exhausted, Lan collapsed onto his back and stared at the Grimm with a grin on his face and the sweet taste of victory (and blood) in his mouth.

The Grimm gave one agonized cry and collapsed onto its back, its armor falling off it in different sized chunks and disintegrating on the grass. In a few minutes the armor had fallen off and a man sized piece of blackness was all that remained.

Lan yelled out in triumph, and the wolves that could move ran over and began covering him with congratulations and saliva (mostly saliva).

"Ah, guys" Lan said, brushing away the many lounges "I couldn't have done it without out yo—"

He then noticed that the blackness was peeling away from the man-shaped form, revealing flesh and blood beneath, in a few seconds the shadows were gone and lying there was an injured old man with a long beard.

The wolves growled and began to make their way towards the figure, but Lan got up and called them back. He didn't feel anything dangerous from the old man and had felt the Grimm's presence disappear. This man wasn't dangerous, in fact he felt familiar, very very familiar.

**Please post any reviews, comments, or criticism so that I can improve my skills. I would also appreciate it if you could Like and follow my story, more likes and follows tend to attract more readers, and more readers mean more reviews.**

**P.s. How were my descriptions of the fight , were they good or were they lacking?**


	8. Chapter 8

Ch 8 Origins

After taking a few minutes to catch his breath, Lan stood up and walked over to check on the old man. The old man was breathing heavily and appeared to be heavily injured.

"Can't just leave him like this" Lan thought "I know, I'll use medical acupuncture…or not. My arms are still broken." He sighed, but then remembered another one of the strange skills Byakko taught him. "Ahah!" Lan said, a sparkle in his eyes "This is a good situation to try out the toe dexterity training I went through!"

Dropping down, Lan reached inside his gi with his right foot and removed a box of needles; he then opened it with a flick of his big toe and withdrew one needle. Turning back to the old man, Lan brought up an acupuncture chart he had seen to mind, and remembered where to start the procedure.

"Steady" Lan said, holding the needle over one of the pressure points on the man's chest "Steady"

Lan dropped his foot down and pierced the man's skin. The man coughed and spat out a glob of blood, and then returned to his labored breathing.

"Hmmm" Lan said to himself "a little bit off center, but it'll do."

Lan continued to treat the old man for the next few minutes, he infused each needle with a minuscule amount of aura to increase the healing rate; he had only recovered a little bit so he had to use it carefully. His rate of progress was slow because he had to use of his feet. But after a few mishaps and a few close calls, he managed to stabilize the old man's condition, if only temporarily.

Sighing, Lan collapsed onto his back and stared up into the sky.

"I wonder if everyone back at the village is doing okay" he thought. He then sat up and shook his head to clear his mind of the doubtful thoughts "Of course they are Lan, you got to stay positive. Right now I got to focus on recovering; I won't be able to get back to the village in the sorry state I'm in now!"

A fit of coughing behind him snapped him out of his thought. He whipped around and stared in the direction of the old man, who was now twitching and choking.

Realizing what was happening, Lan made his way over to the old man and then turned him onto his side. The old sputtered one more time and spat out a fist size glob of mucus that he had been choking on. He then groaned and then slowly opened his eyes. He seemed confused for a few minutes and then lifted up his hand and stared up at it. His eyes then widened and he began moving his body in various positions, patting himself here and there as if he had lost something.

"My body" he whispered, "It's mine again, Oh after all these years!" he tried to sit up, but cried out in pain and spat out a wad of blood.

"Whoa! Careful old man" Lan said "You're not in any condition to move"

The old man slowly turned around and looked at Lan. His eyes widened as he stared at the boy, recognition showing on his face and all of a sudden he started laughing and crying, tears ran down his face like rain and his body twitched in pain with every laugh. Lan stared at the old man confused.

"Um, are you okay?" Lan inquired

"Okay!?" the old man said, his eyes filled with half-insanity and hope "I'm better than okay. I'm great. Oh I haven't felt this elated in so long!"

He then turned his head upwards and continued to laugh while Lan sat there feeling awkward. After a few minutes the old man's jubilation died out and he turned over to look at Lan.

"You've grown so much boy." he said with a smile "just look at the how much you've grown."

Lan felt electricity run through his spine at these words. The old man knew who he was, but seeing as he didn't know his name, the old man must not have met him after coming to the village, that means he knew Lan from before Lan arrived at the village. It's possible that he could have been a member of his biological family.

"G-grandpa?" Lan asked in a timid voice "Are you my grandpa?"

The old man laughed weakly and slowly shook his head.

"We're not family boy, don't worry." The old man said with a slight grin. At this comment, Lan's head drooped slightly. "But I have known you since you came into this world." The old man responded, seeing Lan's disappointment.

Lan's head shot up again. His eyes were wide again and his breath beginning to fluctuate with anticipation.

"Who are you?" Lan asked

"My name is Ansel" the old man replied, "a member of the Order of Dawn"

"Never heard of it" Lan said nonchalantly, scratching his head with his foot.

Ansel smiled,

"It's not surprising" he said with a chuckle "Our order withdrew from the public eye long ago…Would you like to hear the story?"

"Gladly" Lan said with a smile "I need time to rest anyway."

Ansel smiled, then he turned his vision towards the sky and his eyes then glazed over as he began to recount the order's history.

"The order was founded many years ago, by those who had lost their loved ones to the Grimm. It had only one purpose, to exterminate all Grimm in the world, no matter the cost. At that time, the rest of society found the order's methods a little…extreme, so our founders secluded themselves far away from the rest of mankind so that they could pursue their noble goal without obstruction!"

The fervor in Ansel's voice was increasing at this point but, unnoticed by him, Lan was beginning to fall asleep. But even half-asleep, Lan was able to pull the key provisions out of the man's speech. The order was shunned by the rest of society due to its disregard for human life, because it only focused on the destruction of Grimm. The order also never had a shortage of new recruits, due to the many people that lost loved ones to the Grimm. But after many years, the order lost contact with the rest of society and had transformed into a kind of traditionalistic society that lived within an ancient castle, where warriors were trained generation after generation to battle Grimm, with new members joining every once in while (mostly survivors of Grimm attacks who got lost in the woods near the order's castle). Of course they sent people out every once in a while to bring back information about the newest technologies and discoveries on the weaknesses of Grimm, but they mostly kept to themselves, always trying to find a way to eliminate the Grimm once and for all.

Realizing how rude it was to be drowsy during a man's life story, Lan shook himself awake and gave his full attention. By this time, Ansel was beginning to talk about his own past.

"I was once a miner" Ansel said in a nostalgic voice "I was an employee of the Schnee dust company and worked in one of the many dust quarries they owned, one near the sea and surrounded by a forest. Due to the low wages I couldn't afford a home, so my wife and kids came to live with me at the employee quarters, where our basic needs were provided. While I worked at the quarry, they would take care of everything at home from cleaning our modest living quarters to trapping game in the surrounding wilderness to supplement our meager food supply. It was a hard life, but it was bearable, and even under those conditions, we were able to live a happy life together…That is" Ansel said, his voice hardening "Until the night they came."

Ansel then turned his head and looked Lan in the eyes.

"The quarry we worked at was far away from any of the kingdoms. So, it was hard to get to or from that area. We had some security personnel there, but there weren't enough of them…not nearly enough, especially not enough brave ones. One night after everyone had fallen asleep; our camp was attacked by Grimm. The security tried to fight them back, but they were completely overwhelmed. The brave men and women fought back against them to their dying breathes, but the cowards took the only transportation vehicles and fled before any of the noncombatants had a chance to evacuate…Those cowards, left us to die and from what I remember there were still at least 100 empty seats left. So many people died before my eyes that night, so many men and women that I had shared blood sweat and tears with."

Ansel closed his eyes at this point; tears were welling up in them now and his breathing was growing more labored. Lan sat in awkward silence as he waited for the old man to calm down. He wanted to hear how he fit into all of this, but felt that he should give the old man a chance to tell his story. After a few minutes Ansel calmed down and turned back to Lan.

"I managed to lead my family away from the quarry" he said with a calm voice "we managed to get as far as the Cliffside, but by then we were caught by a group of ursa. I tried to protect them as best I could, but I wasn't a trained warrior. The ursa tore me apart, breaking my bones and rending my flesh until I could barely move. Once I was down, they turned their attention towards my family and surrounded them."

Ansel was beginning to hyperventilate now, and Lan was beginning to grow concerned.

"I tried to help them" Ansel said, the memory filling his voice with desperation "I pulled myself up and ran over to help them...but I was too weak and was knocked off the Cliffside by a blow from one of the ursa. The last thing I remembered before the waves took me" Ansel said, tears streaming down his face "was the sound of my family screaming…as I fell."

Ansel broke down in tears at this point. Lan and the wolves looked at each other and shifted around, feeling rather awkward. After a few minutes Ansel stopped crying and got back control of his breathing. He then continued his story, his eyes now swollen and red.

"After drifting for a while, I ended up on a beach near the order's headquarters. They found me and treated my wounds, and after I told them my story, I was offered a membership into their ranks. Not having anything else to live for, I accepted. I would have done anything to make those Grimm pay. After going through their training and learning their waves, I eventually became a mid-ranking member. I lived every day killing Grimm and training new recruits. True, the scars of my past would never leave me, but being there was like living with a new family. I had been a member for 25 years, and had settled into that lifestyle, living every day of my life following their doctrines and ideals."

Ansel sighed, and then smiled as he looked up into the sky

"Of course…I knew that our efforts were in vain. We didn't have the slightest clue on how to end the Grimm once and for all. If anyone knew the way, they probably would have done it by now. I began living my days out in a daze, doing what the order asked of me and enjoying my life with my new comrades…but that all changed the day we found that place."

Tension was now creeping into Ansel's voice as he recounted their discovery.

"Some of the members were digging in the middle of the order's courtyard; they were planning on building a new storage facility. But while they were digging they unearthed a strange stone, written in an old language. They brought some of our scholar's to look at it, and the scholars found that the stone mentioned mankind's origins, of our birth from dust and our emergence into a world filled with Grimm. Our leaders were amazed that there had been such a thing, hidden right under the order's nose for such a long time…then again construction of the new storage facility only began after some of the older more traditionalistic leaders died. Anyway, the order began excavating immediately, and after digging through piles of dense earth and moving hundreds of stones, they uncovered what appeared to be ruins."

Ansel's description of the ruins was garbled, and was filled with ambiguous language and unclear descriptions, but Lan eventually pieced the image together in his head. It apparently consisted of a large stone tablet surrounded by 4 ancient stone pillars with ruts that lead to a stone bowl in the center, the area inside the pillars was around the size of the courtyard and the pillars were cylindrical and around 2 stories high.

"After we had excavated it" Ansel continued "we built a ramshackle building around the site to protect it from the elements, and all the while we researched the writings that were inscribed all around the ruins. From what we could decipher, this temple was a conduit for the dust."

"You mean like the energy we use today?" Lan asked

"No, not that dust. By dust, I mean the substance that was there in the beginning. The very thing that brought mankind into existence!"

"Oh" Lan said in understanding "But what does all this have to do with me?"

"I'm getting there" Ansel said with a smile "Anyways, after researching the writings in the temple for a while longer, we discovered that the dust interacted with the temple at random intervals of time, each pulse able to create miracles in our world. The reason nothing had happened the entire time our order was there was probably because being underground disrupted the conduit it some way. And after reading into the timings that the ancients had figured out and inscribed on one of the pillars, our order discovered that the next impulse was only a few months away. Our leaders grew excited when they found this out, and began preparations for the event. The ruins were filled with all kinds of sensitive equipment. They didn't know what would happen when the dust interacted with the temple, but they weren't going to let that energy go to waste. Once the estimated day arrived, we gathered our finest warriors and most brilliant scientists into the ruins to prepare for whatever might happen. Once we had all gathered, we waited for a few hours in quiet anticipation, but nothing happened initially. Not wanting to miss anything, many of our members set up sleeping arrangements and prepared for a long wait. It actually continued like this for a few days, until finally it happened."

Ansel took a deep breath and stared into the sky, once he continued, his voice was filled with awe.

"It was midnight and almost everybody was asleep, there were a few people discussing important matters near all the equipment, but it was mostly quiet. I had just woken up and was uh…relieving myself in some of the bushes nearby when…Oh don't give me that look" Ansel said, seeing Lan's raised eyebrows "I didn't want to miss anything".

"It's okay" Lan said, smiling "me and grandpa do it all the time, and as a result I have learned what not to use as toilet paper."

This time it was Ansel's turn to stare at Lan, and after shaking his head and grumbling about interruptions, he returned to his story.

"I heard yelling coming from back inside the ruins, so I hurried up and headed back in. When I entered I saw that the tops of the pillars were glowing with a blinding light, and energy was leading down the ruts in the ground toward the bowl in the center. Machines were being switched on left and right to analyze the energy, but as soon as a single mote of that energy entered one of the machines, they malfunctioned and exploded. The light began collecting in the bowl at the center, after a while an orb of energy formed and the light coming from the pillars dimmed. One of the researchers tried to retrieve it and analyze it, but all of a sudden the orb started to suck material towards it, this scared the poor fellow behind one of the broken machines. The suction wasn't that strong, so no one got pulled in, but more energy from the pillars as well as random bits of matter were getting sucked into the orb. The temple was beginning to shake at this point, then all of a sudden the orb released a pillar of energy that blew the roof off of the building we constructed and reached into the sky. Once the energy reached a certain height, it began sucking in the heavens around it. I could have sworn that I saw cloud and stars being pulled into the pillar and sent to the orb at the bottom. The pillar began to disappear after a little while, and the suction force faded away. Eventually all that was left was the orb, just floating there in mid-air above the bowl. One of the other researchers then walked towards the sphere again, he should have learned from the previous fella. At that moment the sphere exploded, releasing a shockwave that blasted all of us, as well as our equipment, outside the ruins and destroyed the building we had erected. I remember crashing to the ground and feeling sick, but after a little while I got my bearings together, got back up, and assessed the situation. Many of our members were scattered all about the area, some were up like I was, but most of them were still lying on the ground. A few seconds later there was a cracking noise and the 4 pillars collapsed, sending stone and dust in all directions. I believed that this event had been a failure and was beginning to call to have the place cleaned up. But then I heard people shouting and saw people gathering around the stone bowl. I ran over and muscled my way through the crowd, but once I got through I was struck dumb by what I saw lying there in the now cracked bowl."

Ansel then paused for dramatic effect, and stared at Lan with a smile.

"It was me wasn't it?" Lan said with awe in his voice

"That it was my friend" Ansel said beaming and chuckling "that it was! When the leaders saw you, they began to contemplate what this could possible mean, but soon after a band of Grimm attacked our order, they were led by a humanoid Grimm. They probably felt the creation of some new entity and came do destroy it. I was ordered to get you to safety by the leaders, so I grabbed some necessities, my weapon, and fled the order through an underground route."

Ansel then began to describe his flight through the woods with Lan in his arms, his run ins with Grimm, and Lan's mysterious power. He then described the time he had spent, trapped as the Grimm's vessel. After he finished his story, he turned to Lan, his eyes bright.

"All that time I spent trapped gave me a lot of time to think about things, even if my thoughts were messed up every once in a while, and I think I have understood some things about you boy."

"What?" Lan asked with an interested smile.

"Long ago, all of mankind was born form the dust. It could have happened just like it did with you. But this time instead of creating a whole new race, only you were created! And most importantly, while inside the Grimm I discovered that they believed you to be a threat to them. Do you know what this means?!"

Ansel was hyperventilating now, no longer able to contain his excitement. Lan was leaning forward in anticipation, eager to hear Ansel's revelation.

"It means that you have the potential of an entire civilization! You who are human but at the same time vastly different, can bring about phenomenal changes in this world, perhaps even the end of the Grimm! Ha Ha. and with what I just saw you do to the Grimm that possessed me, I am even further convinced of the possibilities you could bring about! Tell me, how old you are right now boy, while I was ensnared by that foul creature I lost track of time."

"Five and a half" Lan said, still soaking in the information he had just heard "At least that's what doctor Krueger said my biological age was."

"Five" Ansel said amazed "Just 5 years old and able to defeat a creature most adults wouldn't stand a chance against!"

Ansel burst out in laughter, his joy lightening up the glade.

"So does this mean I'm a legendary hero brought to this land by fate?" Lan said, his eyes sparkling and his voice filled with childhood innocence.

"Maybe" Ansel said chuckling "but only after, Arghhh!"

Ansel cried out in pain, his supine form convulsing in pain.

Alarmed Lan ran over to Ansel and began checking him, and to his surprise found a hole in the man's chest.

"What the" Lan said confused "This wasn't here earlier."

"It's…alright boy" Ansel said with a smile "I actually was supposed to have died years ago, back at the docks. What kept me alive long enough to have that conversation with you was the remnants of the Grimm's energy that had infected me…It seems that it's about gone now."

Ansel coughed and spat out a blob of blood. Lan looked down helplessly at the old man, wondering what he could do.

"You must listen to me now" Ansel said "The Grimm that came after you when you were born into this world is at you village right now, you've got to get away from here. Far away, to one of the 4 kingdoms, apply for hunter training and get into one of the legendary combat schools. There I know you can realize your true destiny!"

"I can't just leave my family behind" Lan said "besides, they'll be fine, the barriers up and a lot of them are really stro—"

Lan stopped as he saw Ansel shaking his head.

"While I was possessed by that Grimm crystal, I shared a mental link with that original humanoid Grimm back which is currently at the village. It has already destroyed the barrier surrounding your village and routed the militia. It won't be long before it ends everyone in the vicinity."

Lan's eyes were wide with shock, the news crashing down on him like an avalanche. But he didn't even think for a second about what he would do. He got up, told some of the wolves to look after Ansel, and turned in the direction of the village, the able bodied wolves following him.

"What are you doing!?" Ansel yelled out, alarmed "that village is already lost! And besides, what can you possibly do with a few wolves and both of your arms broken!? You had a tough battle with the Grimm that possessed me and barely won even though you were in near top condition and had these wolves helping you. The one at the village is far more powerful, you won't stand a chance!"

Lan turned his head and fixed Ansel with an intense stare.

"That thing came here because of me, and that means I got to fix this…I know it's stupid, but I'll never be able to live with myself if I just run away like a coward" he said quietly "Besides, how can I save the world if I can't even protect the people near me?"

Lan then took off in the direction of the village. Ansel screamed at him to come back, yelling that he was far too important to risk over a few old villagers. Eventually Ansel lost sight of Lan, and he stopped yelling. Almost all his energy was spent at this point. He could feel the Grimm energy that had kept him alive fading. His soul was slowly losing its connection with the physical world and his consciousness was beginning to fade. All his old wounds hap reappeared and his life's blood was leaking out of him. The wolves around him were licking his wounds, trying in vain to save him.

"Please" Ansel whispered with the last of his strength "Someone…save…him."

With that, Ansel breathed his last breath and died, his soul beginning its journey to the next plane.

.

.

.

"How do those chicken wings taste?" Byakko said laughing. He had just pulled a nevermore from the air, tore off its wings and shoved them down its throat. The Nevermore was of course dead at this point, but Byakko could never resist making a bad joke. He had enjoyed the battle with the Grimm, saying weird puns (some clever and some absolutely stupid), while he destroyed them in strange (and somewhat deranged) ways.

Laughing, he dashed away from the Nevermore and grabbed and ursa around the throat. He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it and touched the tip of his chin with the forefinger of his other hand thinking. His archives of puns had been mostly depleted at this point, and he couldn't think of anything new. He then shrugged his shoulders and threw the ursa into the air.

"I have run out of witty fight puns!" Byakko exclaimed.

He then smashed his aura infused hands together, which created a shockwave that obliterated all the Grimm in a 20m radius surrounding him. Laughing, he prepared to dash into the next group of Grimm. But all of a sudden he felt a chill run down his spine and heard a ghostly whisper.

"Please…Someone…save…him." The ghostly voice said.

Byakko looked over his shoulder and saw now one. His instincts were now suppressing his adrenaline and bloodlust, and he could feel in the pits of his stomach that something was wrong. Something was going to happen to Lan, he just knew it. He had to get back to the village as soon as possible, but he couldn't just leave all these Grimm to their own devices.

"Sorry my friends" Byakko said, his voice now serious "Looks like I don't have time to play around anymore."

A white energy began to emanate from Byakko's body, covering his body like a silvery fire. He then roared and within seconds the massacre began.

**Please leave me some good comments and criticism so that I may improve my skills. And to those who will like my story, I sincerely thank you.**


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